Bakery Workers
Overview
Introduction
Bakery workers are the many different professionals who work to produce bread, cakes, biscuits, pies, pastries, crackers, and other baked goods in commercial, institutional, and industrial bakeries. There are approximately 191,900 bakers employed in the United States.
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
The salary range for bakers and food batchmakers is wide due to factors such as size and type of employer, the employee's experience, and job position. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the median yearly earnings for all bakers were $26,520 in May 2018. Salaries ranged from less than $19,880 for the bottom 10 percent of all bakers to more than $40,350 to the top 10 percent of all bake...
Work Environment
Bakery workers usually work 40 hours a week, and some work night and evening shifts. Because baked goods can be frozen until they are needed, the number of plants operating around the clock is less than it used to be.
Some bakery plants are air-conditioned. All are clean, since bakeries must meet state and federal standards. Bakery employees wear uniforms and caps or hairnets for sanitar...
Outlook
The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that increasingly automated equipment and processes will result in employment growth as fast as average for food batchmakers and bakers in manufacturing through 2028.
Employment is expected to result in greater demand for bakery workers preparing specialty baked goods, such as cupcakes, pies, and cakes, from grocery stores, retail bakeries, and resta...
