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Packers and Packagers, Hand
Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials.
Also Known As:
Bagger
Crater
Mini Shifter
Pack Out Operator
Packager
Packaging Specialist
Packer
Picker and Packer
Sacker
Selector Packer
Wages
Annual wages for Packers and Packagers, Hand in United States
Job Outlook
Below Average
New job opportunities are less likely in the future
United States
2033 Projected Employment
614,300
-4% Change From 2023
Explore Hand Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers video
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Measure, weigh, and count products and materials.
- Assemble, line, and pad cartons, crates, and containers, using hand tools.
- Obtain, move, and sort products, materials, containers, and orders, using hand tools.
- Transport packages to customers' vehicles.
- Measure, weigh, and count products and materials.
- Remove completed or defective products or materials, placing them on moving equipment, such as conveyors, or in specified areas, such as loading docks.
- Place or pour products or materials into containers, using hand tools and equipment, or fill containers from spouts or chutes.
- Remove completed or defective products or materials, placing them on moving equipment, such as conveyors, or in specified areas, such as loading docks.
- Record product, packaging, and order information on specified forms and records.
- Examine and inspect containers, materials, or products to ensure that product quality and packing specifications are met.
- Obtain, move, and sort products, materials, containers, and orders, using hand tools.
- Clean containers, materials, supplies, or work areas, using cleaning solutions and hand tools.
- Seal containers or materials, using glues, fasteners, nails, and hand tools.
- Load materials and products into package processing equipment.
- Mark and label containers, container tags, or products, using marking tools.
- Examine and inspect containers, materials, or products to ensure that product quality and packing specifications are met.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")