Statewide occupation search

Sort your search results or select and compare details of two occupations. Find out if an occupation is in demand or not in demand in your local area, at Learn about an occupation.

Statewide occupation search

Slaughterers and Meat Packers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Perform nonroutine or precision functions involving the preparation of large portions of meat. Work may include specialized slaughtering tasks, cutting standard or premium cuts of meat for marketing, making sausage, or wrapping meats. Work typically occurs in slaughtering, meat packing, or wholesale establishments.

Related: Animal Breeders Butchers & Meat Cutters Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, & Aquacultural Animals Graders & Sorters, Agricultural Products Meat, Poultry, & Fish Cutters & Trimmers

Industries: Manufacturing

Summary
Details

Shave or singe and defeather carcasses, and wash them in preparation for further processing or packaging.
Saw, split, or scribe carcasses into smaller portions to facilitate handling.
Tend assembly lines, performing a few of the many cuts needed to process a carcass.
Slit open, eviscerate, and trim carcasses of slaughtered animals.
Remove bones, and cut meat into standard cuts in preparation for marketing.
Trim head meat, and sever or remove parts of animals' heads or skulls.
Grind meat into hamburger, and into trimmings used to prepare sausages, luncheon meats, and other meat products.
Sever jugular veins to drain blood and facilitate slaughtering.
Cut, trim, skin, sort, and wash viscera of slaughtered animals to separate edible portions from offal.
Tend assembly lines, performing a few of the many cuts needed to process a carcass.
Skin sections of animals or whole animals.
Wrap dressed carcasses or meat cuts.
Slit open, eviscerate, and trim carcasses of slaughtered animals.
Shackle hind legs of animals to raise them for slaughtering or skinning.
Stun animals prior to slaughtering.
Cut, trim, skin, sort, and wash viscera of slaughtered animals to separate edible portions from offal.
Wrap dressed carcasses or meat cuts.
Cut, trim, skin, sort, and wash viscera of slaughtered animals to separate edible portions from offal.
Trim, clean, or cure animal hides.
Shave or singe and defeather carcasses, and wash them in preparation for further processing or packaging.
Trim head meat, and sever or remove parts of animals' heads or skulls.

Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.

Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

Education

No formal educational credential

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

46460/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

22.34/hr

Currently Employed

1,040

Yearly Projected Openings

130

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Dependability
Integrity
Attention to Detail
Adaptability/Flexibility
Stress Tolerance
Self Control

Animal shearing or clipping equipment
Belt conveyors
Blast freezers
Commercial use cutlery
Commercial use food grinders
Commercial use food slicers
Commercial use scales
Cooling machine
Cutting machinery
Dicing machinery
Electronic measuring probes
Engraving machines
Filling machinery
Forklifts
Form or fill or seal machinery
Forming machine
Hoists
Knife blades
Label making machines
Livestock identification equipment
Packaging compactors
Personal computers
Power saws
Radio frequency identification devices
Shaft collar
Sharpening stones or tools or kits
Slicing machinery
Stunner
Touch screen monitors
Wrapping machinery

Accounting software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Inventory management software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Spreadsheet software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Find Slaughterers and Meat Packers jobs Education and Training for Slaughterers and Meat Packers

Statewide occupation search

Statewide occupation search

Slaughterers and Meat Packers

Work Activities

Skills

Abilities

Knowledge

Education

Pay

Washington Employment Trends

Personality

Tools

Technology

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES