Meat and Seafood Processor / Packager
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Meat and Seafood Processor or Packager works in a processing facility to cut, sort and package meat and seafood for sale to retail or wholesale customers. Processes and packages food according to health and safety guidelines.
Job Outlook
There were 422 Meat and Seafood Processor / Packager job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 13693 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Meat and Seafood Processor / Packager industry, which includes the Meat and Seafood Processor / Packager career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Meat and Seafood Processor / Packager jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $31,587.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $37,008.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Meat and Seafood Processor / Packager postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $25,651.
Education and Experience
Posted Meat and Seafood Processor / Packager jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 1.64% |
| Master's Degree | 6.06% |
| Doctoral Degree | 0.23% |
| Other | 22.9% |
Posted Meat and Seafood Processor / Packager jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 82.91% |
| 3 to 5 years | 15.22% |
| 6 to 8 years | 1.01% |
| 9+ years | 0.86% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Meat and Seafood Processor / Packager positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Customer Service (46.86%)
- Sales (35.59%)
- Sanitation (28.06%)
- Multitasking (23.01%)
- Management (22.68%)
- Communication (20.24%)
- Packaging And Labeling (20.21%)
- Verbal Communication Skills (19.29%)
- Tactfulness (16.83%)
- Greeting Customers (16.39%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Food Safety And Sanitation (52.45%)
- Seafood Preparation (41.18%)
- Merchandising (51.1%)
- Filleting (5.22%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Equipment Operation (8.09%)
- Pallet Jacks (14.49%)
- Product Knowledge (17.54%)
- General Mathematics (12.01%)
- Performance Appraisal (7.67%)
- Poultry (15.42%)
- Grinding Machine (10.82%)
- Selling Techniques (14.02%)
- Food Preparation (19.55%)
- Purchasing (9.25%)
- Machinery (5.54%)
- Inventory Management (8.71%)
- Cooking (13.58%)
- Safety Standards (8.66%)
- Restaurant Operation (4.9%)
- Production Equipment (17.14%)
- Stocks (Inventory) (7.5%)
- Meat Cutting (18.07%)
- Meat Products (16.15%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Seafood Preparation (78.34%)
- Space Allocation Problem (21.8%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Meat and Seafood Processor / Packager skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Meat Clerk
- Meat Associate
- Meat Wrapper
- Seafood Associate
- Fish Cutter
- Market Clerk
- Meat Department Associate
- Seafood Processor
- Meat Market/Seafood Sales Associate
- Seafood Specialist
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Meat and Seafood Processor / Packager jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Kroger (1812)
- Pilgrim's Pride (847)
- Whole Foods (792)
- Southeastern Grocers (728)
- BJ's Wholesale Club (582)
- Winn-Dixie (474)
- Ingles (436)
- Fareway Stores (368)
- Hannaford Brothers Company (291)
- The Giant Company (286)
North Carolina
- Ingles (149)
- Lowe's (91)
- Pilgrim's Pride (52)
- BJ's Wholesale Club (17)
- Whole Foods (15)
- Cheney Brothers (6)
- Food Lion (5)
- Locals Seafood (5)
- US Foods Holding (4)
- Firestarter Recruiting (4)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.