jobfacts

Communication operators

SOC 2020 7213

Communication operators operate telecoms equipment to transmit and receive signals and messages.

Also calledEmergency medical dispatcherEmergency call handlerAmbulance dispatcherFire control officerControl officerDespatcherand 67 more titles
Typical full-time pay£36,4002025 Provisional
People in the job37,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month339↓ 15%on last year · 304th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time communication operators earn between £30,200 and £40,900 a year.

What full-time communication operators earn, 2025
£36,400 typical£23,400lowest 10%£30,20025%£43,100top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£30,200–£40,900)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£23,400
Lowest 20% earn less than£29,100
25%£30,200
Median£36,400
75%£40,900
Top 20% earn more than£43,100
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £36,400
Wales!£47,000
South West!£39,600
North East!£38,600
London!£37,700
Scotland!£37,500
North West!£36,200
East of England!£36,200
East Midlands!£34,500
South East!£32,800
Yorkshire and The Humber!£30,800
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £36,400
Wales£47,000 (small sample)
South West£39,600 (small sample)
North East£38,600 (small sample)
London£37,700 (small sample)
Scotland£37,500 (small sample)
North West£36,200 (small sample)
East of England£36,200 (small sample)
East Midlands£34,500 (small sample)
South East£32,800 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£30,800 (small sample)
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £29,400
  • 2024 £33,600
  • 2025 Provisional£36,400
↑ 24% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 339 jobs for communication operators are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as elevated.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (2 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026347
Jul 2026336
Jun 2026Not published
May 2026362
Apr 2026349
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026315
Jan 2026379
Dec 2025186
Nov 2025374
Oct 2025342
Sept 2025404
Aug 2025324
Jul 2025463
Jun 2025351
May 2025465
Apr 2025362
Mar 2025428
Feb 2025505
Jan 2025378
Dec 2024278
Nov 2024353
Oct 2024411
Sept 2024455
Aug 2024386
Jul 2024519
Jun 2024437
May 2024496
Apr 2024453
Mar 2024411
Feb 2024443
Jan 2024547
Dec 2023379
Nov 2023398
Oct 2023449
Sept 2023403
Aug 2023541
Jul 2023582
Jun 2023718
May 2023742
Apr 2023591
Mar 2023772
Feb 2023748
Jan 2023811
Dec 2022666
Nov 2022817
Oct 20221,018
Sept 2022887
Aug 2022921
Jul 20221,022
Jun 2022966
May 2022990
Apr 2022919
Mar 20221,055
Feb 20221,011
Jan 20221,111
Dec 2021844
Nov 2021905
Oct 2021993
Sept 2021998
Aug 2021766
Jul 2021893
Jun 2021705
May 2021685
Apr 2021502
Mar 2021931
Feb 2021510
Jan 2021543
Dec 2020518
Nov 2020489
Oct 2020528
Sept 2020493
Aug 2020513
Jul 2020464
Jun 2020433
May 2020263
Apr 2020279
Mar 2020733
Feb 2020778
Jan 2020733
Dec 2019436
Nov 2019659
Oct 2019717
Sept 2019671
Aug 2019683
Jul 2019788
Jun 2019837
May 2019821
Apr 2019609
Mar 2019796
Feb 2019710
Jan 2019759
Dec 2018466
Nov 2018735
Oct 2018676
Sept 2018575
Aug 2018610
Jul 2018703
Jun 2018662
May 2018623
Apr 2018662
Mar 2018675
Feb 2018672
Jan 2018815
Dec 2017493
Nov 2017658
Oct 2017635
Sept 2017615
Aug 2017676
Jul 2017620
Jun 2017676
May 2017661
Apr 2017669
Mar 2017662
Feb 2017647
Jan 2017677
Is there a shortage of communication operators?
Elevated

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was not high.

  • Visas grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthWell above usual
  • Pay against similar jobsAbove usual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Note: uncertainty in visa density.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
14%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for customer service occupations, which includes communication operators. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London249
Birmingham30
City of Edinburgh19
Glasgow City18
Norwich18
Manchester18
Leeds16
Belfast15
Cardiff15
Oxford15
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where communication operators are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of communication operators
8%!
42%!
22%!
15%!
12%!
1.3%!
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
16–248% (small sample)
25–3442% (small sample)
35–4422% (small sample)
45–5415% (small sample)
55–6412% (small sample)
65+1.3% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent34%
Higher education below degree!8.6%
A levels or equivalent!25%
GCSEs or equivalent!24%
Other qualifications!4.9%
No qualifications!2.4%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent34%
Higher education below degree8.6% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent25% (small sample)
GCSEs or equivalent24% (small sample)
Other qualifications4.9% (small sample)
No qualifications2.4% (small sample)

Main employers: public order and safety activities (27%), other human health activities (15%), hospital activities (11%), taxi operation (4.3%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
34%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
5
from level 2
Apprenticeships take
1 to 18 months
typically

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

College

You could do a college course to improve your IT skills or complete a qualification in customer service. These skills are important in this job.

Courses are widely available and include:

  • customer service
  • contact centre operations
  • International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL)
Entry requirements

There are no set entry requirements for this route.

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do an Emergency Contact Handler Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship.

This takes around 1 year to complete and combines on-the-job training with learning off site.

Entry requirements

Employers will set their own entry requirements.

Other ways in

Work your way up

You could join an ambulance service and work as a patient transport service (PTS) call handler. They organise non-emergency patient transfers to and from healthcare appointments.

Learn more about the role of patient transport service (PTS) call handlers from Health Careers.

You might then move into an emergency medical dispatcher role through training and promotion.

Volunteering

You'll find it helpful to get some health or social care experience before applying for a job. For example, you could volunteer with:

  • the NHS
  • the British Red Cross
  • St John Ambulance

You can also find opportunities through The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) and Do it.

Apply directly

You can apply directly to your local ambulance service for jobs.

Each service sets their own entry requirements, but it could help your application if you have:

  • GCSEs grade 9 to 4 (A* to C) in English, maths and science
  • experience in customer service, like a call centre operator
  • map reading skills and knowledge of local geography
  • an understanding of medical terminology
  • a recognised and current first aid qualification

What you’ll need

  • be over 18 years of age
  • pass background checks

Registration and professional bodies

Career tips

You would be expected to have an understanding of how the NHS values would apply in your work.

Further information

You can find out more about how to become an emergency medical dispatcher from Health Careers.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for emergency medical dispatcher. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

5 for this job

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • receives messages, weather reports and other material to transmit
  • tunes transmitter to required channel or wavelength and relays or receives message to/ from person or vehicle
  • uses a teleprinter or telex keyboard to transmit messages to other teleprinters or telexes
  • keeps record of messages sent and received
  • performs routine tests and maintenance on equipment and reports faults
  • receives and handles incoming calls for emergency services, transmitting to the appropriate services

Skills

  • answer incoming calls
  • communicate by telephone
  • maintain telephony system
  • redirect callers
  • use communication devices
  • use computer telephony integration
  • greet guests
  • handle helpdesk problems
  • install electronic communication equipment
  • monitor communication channels' performance
  • respond to customers' inquiries

Knowledge

  • electronic communication
  • concepts of telecommunications
  • ICT communications protocols

Suits people who like

  • Organising and following procedures
  • Practical, hands-on work

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for customer service occupations, a group of 6 jobs that includes communication operators.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 47%about 285,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 2035648,000including people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.