Packers and Packagers, Hand

Highest risk Lowest scored Low pay & highrisk
Imminent Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (5)

Lower estimated automation risk

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Why it fits

Fits experienced packers moving into shift assignments, quality checks, safety, training, and output tracking.

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Applies warehouse labor coordination, loading priorities, safety checks, attendance, training, and throughput tracking.

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Why it fits

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71% automation risk | High Risk
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Why it fits

Fits packers adding equipment certification for warehouse movement, pallets, staging, loading, and safety procedures.

Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
74% automation risk | High Risk
Pays better Higher growth
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Why it fits

Uses visual inspection, sorting, product defects, samples, measurements, standards, and production documentation.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
1.6/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

81% (Imminent Risk)

Imminent Risk (81-100%): This occupation appears highly exposed to end-to-end replacement by AI, software, robotics, or other computer-controlled systems. Roles in this range often involve predictable, repeatable, or rules-based work with limited need for human judgement, trust, creativity, or adaptation to messy real-world conditions. This does not mean every job will disappear immediately, but it is a strong signal to consider safer alternatives or start building more resilient skills.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Decision-making and problem solving

Quite important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Coaching and developing others

Quite important
Why this matters
Helps people learn and improve through coaching, mentoring, and feedback. This relies on trust, motivation, and adapting guidance to each person—work that’s hard to replace end-to-end with automation.
Jobs that also use this strength

Coordinating others’ work

Quite important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 74 votes

78% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted that it's probable this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 81% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Packers and Packagers, Hand will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

View sentiment trend

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Packers and Packagers, Hand was $35,580 ($17 per hour).

The median annual wage for Packers and Packagers, Hand was 28.1% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Very slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Packers and Packagers, Hand' job openings is expected to decline 5.4% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 601,440 people employed as 'Packers and Packagers, Hand' within the United States.

This represents around 0.39% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 256 people are employed as 'Packers and Packagers, Hand'.

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What people are saying (1)

dfdf (Highly likely)
10 Jun 2022 15:53
Already brought in robots, don't work
Leave a reply about this occupation
0/8000

Job description

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials.

O*NET-SOC code: 53-7064.00