Confectionery Industry Workers
Overview
Introduction
Confectionery industry workers manufacture and package sweets, including bonbons, hard and soft candy, stuffed dates, popcorn balls, and many other types of confections. There are approximately 171,300 food batchmakers in the United States. About 9.3 percent work in sugar and confectionery product manufacturing.
Quick Facts
Median Salary
Employment Prospects
Minimum Education Level
Experience
Skills
Personality Traits
Earnings
Wages for confectionery workers vary widely depending on such factors as the workers skills and the size and the geographic location of the plant. Food batchmakers in the sugar and confectionery production industry earned a mean annual salary of $40,140, or $19.30 per hour, in May 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Entry-level, unskilled workers, such as helpers, may earn little m...
Work Environment
Most confectionery professionals in the United States work in large candy making factories; many other workers are employed in plants with fewer than 20 workers. Most plants are modern, clean, and well lighted. Workers who tend machines must exercise caution, but job conditions generally are safe. The work is usually not physically demanding but can be tiring. Like many kinds of production work...
Outlook
Employment for food batchmakers in sugar and confectionery product manufacturing is expected to increase by 5.4 percent from 2023 to 2033, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. This is faster than the average for all careers. Demand for confectionery goods remains strong, which has created new employment opportunities. Mordor Intelligence predicts that the global candy market will grow fro...