Career
Conveyor operators and tenders
Run conveyor systems.
$42,420
Median pay
-2.6%
Job growth, 2025–35
2,200
Openings a year
No formal educational credential
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Stop equipment or machinery and clear jams, using poles, bars, and hand tools, or remove damaged materials from conveyors.
- Load, unload, or adjust materials or products on conveyors by hand, by using lifts, hoists, and scoops, or by opening gates, chutes, or hoppers.
- Observe conveyor operations and monitor lights, dials, and gauges to maintain specified operating levels and to detect equipment malfunctions.
- Observe packages moving along conveyors to identify packages, detect defective packaging, and perform quality control.
- Position deflector bars, gates, chutes, or spouts to divert flow of materials from one conveyor onto another conveyor.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Stop equipment or machinery and clear jams, using poles, bars, and hand tools, or remove damaged materials from conveyors.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Operation and Control, Operations Monitoring, Monitoring, Active Listening.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though short-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $42,420 a year and 2,200 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- NO MATCHCIP 99.9999
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Machine Feeders and Offbearers$41,220 · -13.1%
- Tank Car, Truck, and Ship Loaders$58,870 · +2.8%
- Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators$46,420 · +1.5%
- Hoist and Winch Operators$56,450 · +0.2%
- Extruding and Forming Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Synthetic and Glass Fibers$46,350 · -3.3%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.