Career
Helpers--production workers
Help production workers on the line.
$39,070
Median pay
-8.2%
Job growth, 2025–35
20,900
Openings a year
High school diploma or equivalent
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
- Lift raw materials, finished products, and packed items, manually or using hoists.
- Mark or tag identification on parts.
- Observe equipment operations so that malfunctions can be detected, and notify operators of any malfunctions.
- Count finished products to determine if product orders are complete.
- Examine products to verify conformance to quality standards.
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?
“Lift raw materials, finished products, and packed items, manually or using hoists.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Operations Monitoring, Monitoring, Operation and Control.
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 $39,070 a year and 20,900 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- NO MATCHCIP 99.9999
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers$39,630 · +5.3%
- Helpers--Extraction Workers$47,730 · +1.7%
- Machine Feeders and Offbearers$41,220 · -13.1%
- Helpers--Carpenters$43,780 · -1.7%
- Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters$47,550 · -11.7%
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.