Meat process workers produce meat products for the food manufacturing, catering and food retail industries.
£13,500 Starter
to£21,000 Experienced
42 to 44 a week
evenings / weekends on shifts
You can get into this job through:
You could do a college course, which would teach you some of the skills and knowledge you need in this job. Relevant courses include:
You'll usually need:
You can do an abattoir worker intermediate apprenticeship, or a food and drink process operator intermediate or advanced apprenticeship.
You'll usually need:
You do not need any particular qualifications to apply directly for this job. Some employers may prefer you to have some GCSEs at grades 9 to 2 (A* to E).
You may have an advantage if you've got experience of using a forklift truck, though this is not essential.
You can find out more about careers in food production from the Food and Drink Training and Education Council.
You'll need:
To work as a slaughterman or slaughterwoman you must be licensed by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and aged 18 or over.
For production line work, you need to be at least 16.
You might need a driving licence if your job includes delivery duties.
You may work in:
Depending on where you work, you may use knives and other equipment, like a band saw, to cut and prepare carcasses. You may also have some delivery duties.
You could work at an abattoir or in a factory.
Your working environment may be cold, physically demanding and messy.
You may need to wear protective clothing.
You could become a shift supervisor or manager on the production line, or in an area like quality control, product development or food marketing.
With further experience you could train to become a meat hygiene inspector.
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