jobfacts

Wood machinist

Paper and wood machine operatives — SOC 2020 8131

Paper and wood machine operatives operate machines to treat and cut wood, to produce, treat and cut paper, paperboard, leatherboard, plasterboard and similar material, and to assemble and make wooden crates and containers.

Also calledCutterMachinistRollerPresserBox repairerPaper makerand 503 more titles
Typical full-time pay£30,4002025 Provisional
People in the job22,000across the UK
Demand for workersNot high
New adverts a month517↓ 9.9%on last year · 261st of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025
What full-time wood machinists earn, 2025
£30,400 typical£24,300lowest 20%£26,60025%n/ptop 10%
n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less thanNot published
Lowest 20% earn less than£24,300
25%£26,600
Median£30,400
75%Not published
Top 20% earn more thanNot published
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £30,400
South West!£32,900
Scotland!£31,600
East of England!£29,800
Yorkshire and The Humber!£29,800
West Midlands!£28,500
North West!£27,800
London!£27,500
East Midlands!£27,500
South East!£27,000
North EastNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £30,400
South West£32,900 (small sample)
Scotland£31,600 (small sample)
East of England£29,800 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£29,800 (small sample)
West Midlands£28,500 (small sample)
North West£27,800 (small sample)
London£27,500 (small sample)
East Midlands£27,500 (small sample)
South East£27,000 (small sample)
North EastNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £28,000
  • 2024 £29,100
  • 2025 Provisional£30,400
↑ 8.5% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 517 jobs for wood machinists are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as not high.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (3 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026522
Jul 2026545
Jun 2026541
May 2026539
Apr 2026506
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026458
Jan 2026535
Dec 2025300
Nov 2025572
Oct 2025557
Sept 2025613
Aug 2025719
Jul 2025Not published
Jun 2025Not published
May 2025668
Apr 2025516
Mar 2025589
Feb 2025621
Jan 2025534
Dec 2024310
Nov 2024479
Oct 2024581
Sept 2024681
Aug 2024603
Jul 2024624
Jun 2024711
May 2024660
Apr 2024672
Mar 2024577
Feb 2024638
Jan 2024646
Dec 2023462
Nov 2023509
Oct 2023568
Sept 2023547
Aug 2023612
Jul 2023642
Jun 2023864
May 2023775
Apr 2023662
Mar 2023743
Feb 2023732
Jan 2023812
Dec 2022562
Nov 2022771
Oct 2022863
Sept 2022908
Aug 2022921
Jul 2022885
Jun 2022860
May 2022979
Apr 2022788
Mar 2022934
Feb 2022817
Jan 2022966
Dec 2021739
Nov 2021798
Oct 2021808
Sept 2021830
Aug 2021775
Jul 2021895
Jun 2021791
May 20213,613
Apr 2021853
Mar 20211,058
Feb 2021545
Jan 2021601
Dec 2020455
Nov 20201,596
Oct 2020593
Sept 2020588
Aug 2020490
Jul 2020439
Jun 2020377
May 2020299
Apr 2020449
Mar 2020689
Feb 2020911
Jan 2020718
Dec 2019502
Nov 2019785
Oct 2019720
Sept 2019763
Aug 2019846
Jul 20191,033
Jun 20191,000
May 20191,016
Apr 2019664
Mar 2019675
Feb 2019706
Jan 2019896
Dec 2018523
Nov 2018724
Oct 2018878
Sept 2018845
Aug 2018782
Jul 2018674
Jun 2018824
May 2018793
Apr 2018661
Mar 2018804
Feb 20181,022
Jan 2018905
Dec 2017587
Nov 2017785
Oct 2017806
Sept 2017710
Aug 2017831
Jul 2017775
Jun 2017884
May 2017899
Apr 2017870
Mar 2017887
Feb 2017723
Jan 2017742
Is there a shortage of wood machinists?
Not high

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

  • Visas grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsAbove usual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedUsual
Note: uncertain in multiple indicators: change in hourly wage, visa density.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
43%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for plant and machine operatives, which includes wood machinists. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London133
Somerset31
Birmingham27
Sheffield26
Manchester24
Leeds22
Glasgow City21
North Yorkshire21
Bristol, City of18
Liverpool18
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where wood machinists 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
WomenToo few in the survey to give a reliable figure
Age of wood machinists
n/p
19%!
22%!
26%!
23%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–3419% (small sample)
35–4422% (small sample)
45–5426% (small sample)
55–6423% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent!7%
Higher education below degree–
Not published
A levels or equivalent!25%
GCSEs or equivalent!22%
Other qualifications!15%
No qualifications!21%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent7% (small sample)
Higher education below degreeNot published
A levels or equivalent25% (small sample)
GCSEs or equivalent22% (small sample)
Other qualifications15% (small sample)
No qualifications21% (small sample)

Main employers: manufacture of other builders' carpentry and joinery (20%), other printing (11%), manufacture of household and sanitary goods and of toilet requisites (9%), manufacture of corrugated paper and paperboard and of containers of paper and paperboard (8%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
7%
as their highest qualification
Most common qualification
A levels or equivalent
held by 25%
Apprenticeships
2
from level 2
Apprenticeships take
2 years
typically

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

College

You can take a college course that would teach you some of the skills needed to get a trainee wood machinist position.

Courses include:

  • basic construction skills
  • carpentry and joinery
  • wood machining
Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do a Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship, such as:

  • Wood Machinist
  • Wood Product Manufacturing Operative
  • Carpentry and Joinery

If you want to work in the furniture industry you could do a Furniture Manufacturing Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship.

These take around 2 years to complete and are a mix of on-the-job training with study time spent off-site.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship

Other ways in

Work your way up

You could start as a labourer in construction, or an assistant with a wood products or furniture manufacturing company.

You could then specialise in machining work after doing on-the-job training.

Apply directly

You could apply directly to work as a wood machinist with companies that make timber products. You'll usually need experience of working with manufacturing machinery, CNC machine tools or bench joinery.

You can learn more about how to become a wood machinist from Go Construct.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for wood machinist. 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

  • cuts and shapes wood using hand and power tools, assembles parts of wooden crates, barrels and other wooden containers using nails, bolts and staples, and fits metal strips and corner pieces to strengthen container as required
  • examines job requirements, ascertains necessary ingredients and loads machines to beat, mix and crush wood, cork and pulp for further processing
  • attends and operates ovens, kilns, milling, filtering, straining, calendering, coating, drying, finishing, winding and other machines to produce and/or treat wood, paper, paperboard, leatherboard and plasterboard
  • sets and adjusts edge guides, stops and blades of cutting machine, threads material through rollers or loads into machine hopper, starts and monitors operation of machine, removes completed work and clears machine of waste material

Skills

  • keep records of work progress
  • monitor automated machines
  • perform machine maintenance
  • record production data for quality control
  • report defective manufacturing materials
  • set up the controller of a machine
  • supply machine
  • wear appropriate protective gear
  • work safely with machines
  • prepare production reports
  • monitor gauge
  • dispose of non-hazardous waste
  • monitor pulp quality
  • troubleshoot

Knowledge

  • quality standards
  • types of paper
  • types of pulp
  • types of bleach
  • deinking processes
  • types of wood
  • froth flotation processes

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 wood machinists.
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.