Canning and Preserving Industry Workers
Overview
Introduction
Canning and preserving industry workers monitor equipment and perform routine tasks in food-processing plants that can, preserve, and quick-freeze such foods as vegetables, fruits, frozen dinners, jams, jellies, preserves, pickles, and soups. They also process and preserve seafood, including shrimp, oysters, crabs, clams, and fish. The U.S. Department of Labor considers canning and preserving food industry workers to be an occupational subset of packaging and filling machine operators and tenders. As of May 2023, there are approxima...
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
Although some products can be processed at any time during the year, the level of activity in many food-processing plants varies with the season, and earnings of workers vary accordingly. Larger plants overcome the seasonality of their food products by maintaining large inventories of raw foodstuffs, and workers for these plants generally work full time throughout the year. Earnings for workers...
Work Environment
Canning and preserving plants are located in many parts of the country. Most plants are located close to the supply source and are staffed by local people who sometimes hold other jobs as well. During harvest season, plants may operate 24 hours a day, with three work shifts.
In plants where food is frozen, some workers spend considerable time in temperatures that are well below freezing....
Outlook
The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that packaging and filling machine operators and tenders, a category which includes canning and preserving industry workers, will experience faster than average employment growth through 2032. Situations may vary, however, according to the food product, the location of the factory, the timing of the retirement of older workers, and other factors. In the fis...