jobfacts

Food, drink and tobacco process operatives

SOC 2020 8111

Food, drink and tobacco process operatives set, operate and attend machinery to bake, freeze, heat, crush, mix, blend and otherwise process foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco leaves.

Also calledFood factory workerFood process operativeFood processing workerFiremanCutterPresserand 731 more titles
Typical full-time pay£28,2002025 Provisional
People in the job130,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month3,300↓ 0.5%on last year · 53rd of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time food, drink and tobacco process operatives earn between £24,500 and £33,900 a year.

What full-time food, drink and tobacco process operatives earn, 2025
£28,200 typical£21,500lowest 10%£24,50025%£33,90075%£40,500top 10%
Middle half (£24,500–£33,900)
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£21,500
Lowest 20% earn less than£23,500
25%£24,500
Median£28,200
75%£33,900
Top 20% earn more than£35,200
Top 10% earn more than£40,500
Typical pay by regionUK median £28,200
West Midlands£29,500
Yorkshire and The Humber£29,000
East Midlands£28,800
London£28,800
East of England£28,600
Scotland£28,500
South East£28,000
North East!£27,700
South West£27,200
Wales£27,100
North West£27,000
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £28,200
West Midlands£29,500
Yorkshire and The Humber£29,000
East Midlands£28,800
London£28,800
East of England£28,600
Scotland£28,500
South East£28,000
North East£27,700 (small sample)
South West£27,200
Wales£27,100
North West£27,000
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £25,500
  • 2024 £27,000
  • 2025 Provisional£28,200
↑ 11% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 3,300 jobs for food, drink and tobacco process operatives 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 (1 in all)
Show as table
Aug 20263,639
Jul 20263,797
Jun 20263,223
May 20263,441
Apr 20263,153
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20262,713
Jan 20263,306
Dec 20251,633
Nov 20253,556
Oct 20253,979
Sept 20253,982
Aug 20253,833
Jul 20253,884
Jun 20253,616
May 20254,062
Apr 20253,121
Mar 20253,258
Feb 20253,093
Jan 20252,932
Dec 20241,686
Nov 20242,782
Oct 20243,696
Sept 20243,914
Aug 20243,866
Jul 20243,816
Jun 20243,554
May 20243,789
Apr 20243,512
Mar 20242,536
Feb 20242,504
Jan 20243,197
Dec 20232,032
Nov 20232,580
Oct 20232,910
Sept 20233,122
Aug 20233,696
Jul 20233,521
Jun 20235,307
May 20234,488
Apr 20233,841
Mar 20234,226
Feb 20233,996
Jan 20234,976
Dec 20224,177
Nov 20225,818
Oct 20226,333
Sept 20226,227
Aug 20226,519
Jul 20226,433
Jun 20226,574
May 20226,862
Apr 20226,083
Mar 20227,189
Feb 20226,799
Jan 20227,818
Dec 20216,086
Nov 20217,115
Oct 20217,614
Sept 20217,540
Aug 20216,692
Jul 20217,516
Jun 20216,590
May 20215,542
Apr 20214,744
Mar 20215,599
Feb 20213,094
Jan 20213,338
Dec 20203,256
Nov 20203,652
Oct 20204,836
Sept 20204,333
Aug 20203,380
Jul 20202,600
Jun 20202,062
May 20201,716
Apr 20201,959
Mar 20203,102
Feb 20203,353
Jan 20203,251
Dec 20192,787
Nov 20193,656
Oct 20194,026
Sept 20194,245
Aug 20194,039
Jul 20194,569
Jun 20193,854
May 20194,109
Apr 20192,833
Mar 20194,670
Feb 20194,288
Jan 20195,050
Dec 20183,244
Nov 20185,101
Oct 20184,203
Sept 20184,172
Aug 20183,689
Jul 20183,465
Jun 20183,390
May 20183,116
Apr 20182,702
Mar 20182,651
Feb 20182,409
Jan 20183,114
Dec 20172,201
Nov 20173,102
Oct 20173,691
Sept 20173,895
Aug 20173,517
Jul 20172,989
Jun 20174,040
May 20173,773
Apr 20173,200
Mar 20173,101
Feb 20172,519
Jan 20172,945
Is there a shortage of food, drink and tobacco process operatives?
Elevated

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

  • Visas grantedAbove usual
  • Online job advertsAbove usual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Note: uncertain in multiple indicators: change in hourly wage, visa density.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
22%against 27% for all jobs
DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London433
Somerset211
North Yorkshire171
North Northamptonshire131
Cornwall121
Wiltshire118
Manchester109
East Riding of Yorkshire103
West Suffolk96
Shropshire94
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where food, drink and tobacco process operatives are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 236 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from Romania, Poland, Moldova, ranking it 67th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of food, drink and tobacco process operatives
12%!
17%!
24%
31%
13%!
3%!
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
16–2412% (small sample)
25–3417% (small sample)
35–4424%
45–5431%
55–6413% (small sample)
65+3% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent19%
Higher education below degree!6.5%
A levels or equivalent20%
GCSEs or equivalent19%
Other qualifications21%
No qualifications13%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent19%
Higher education below degree6.5% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent20%
GCSEs or equivalent19%
Other qualifications21%
No qualifications13%

Main employers: wholesale of other machinery and equipment (8%), manufacture of bread; manufacture of fresh pastry goods and cakes (6.7%), retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating (5.3%), manufacture of other food products nec (4.3%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
19%
as their highest qualification
Most common qualification
Other qualifications
held by 21%
Apprenticeships
2
from level 2
Apprenticeships take
1 to 2½ years
typically

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

Apprenticeship

You may be able to apply to do a Food and Drink Process Operator Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship with a food production company.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship

Apply directly

You can apply directly for jobs. You'll have an advantage if you've got:

  • experience on a production line, especially one making food products
  • GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) in English and maths

You can find out more about working in food production from Tasty careers.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for food factory worker. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

2 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

  • sets, operates and attends machinery and ovens to mix, bake and otherwise prepare bread and flour confectionery products
  • operates machinery to crush, mix, malt, cook and ferment grains and fruits to produce beer, wines, malt liquors, vinegar, yeast and related products
  • attends equipment to make jam, toffee, cheese, processed cheese, margarine, syrup, ice, pasta, ice-cream, sausages, chocolate, maize starch, edible fats and dextrin
  • operates equipment to cool, heat, dry, roast, blanch, pasteurise, smoke, sterilise, freeze, evaporate and concentrate foodstuffs and liquids used in food processing
  • mixes, pulps, grinds, blends and separates foodstuffs and liquids with churning, pressing, sieving, grinding and filtering equipment
  • processes tobacco leaves by hand or machine to make cigarettes, cigars, pipe and other tobacco products

Skills

  • apply GMP
  • apply HACCP
  • apply requirements concerning manufacturing of food and beverages
  • liaise with colleagues
  • liaise with managers
  • ensure compliance with environmental legislation in food production
  • follow hygienic procedures during food processing
  • label samples
  • act reliably
  • adhere to organisational guidelines
  • be at ease in unsafe environments
  • carry out checks of production plant equipment
  • clean food and beverage machinery
  • lift heavy weights

Knowledge

  • health, safety and hygiene legislation
  • temperature scales
  • food safety principles

Suits people who like

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

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for process, plant, machine and construction operatives, a group of 25 jobs that includes food, drink and tobacco process operatives.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 19%about 142,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 2035496,000including 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.