First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand
Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of helpers, laborers, or material movers, hand.
Most important skills
- Coordination
- Speaking
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Complex Problem Solving
- Time Management
Key knowledge
- Customer and Personal Service
- Production and Processing
- Administration and Management
- Mechanical
- Computers and Electronics
- English Language
- Mathematics
- Public Safety and Security
What the work involves
- Plan work schedules and assign duties to maintain adequate staff for effective performance of activities and response to fluctuating workloads.
- Collaborate with workers and managers to solve work-related problems.
- Review work throughout the work process and at completion to ensure that it has been performed properly.
- Transmit and explain work orders to laborers.
- Check specifications of materials loaded or unloaded against information contained in work orders.
- Inform designated employees or departments of items loaded or problems encountered.
- Evaluate employee performance and prepare performance appraisals.
- Perform the same work duties as those supervised, or perform more difficult or skilled tasks or assist in their performance.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Conventional, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (35.2% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (36.1%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (30.5%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
- Projection education uses SOC 53-1042 (exact); it may describe a broader group.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0) · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 94% of occupations compared | 94% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 73% of occupations compared | 61% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 99% of occupations compared | 93% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 89% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 91% of occupations compared | 54% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 90% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 64% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 62% of occupations compared | — |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 1.67%
- Contact with others most of the time: 3.84%
- Constant contact with others: 94.49%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 8.59%
- Fairly important: 6.07%
- Important: 22.24%
- Very important: 2.6%
- Extremely important: 60.5%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 1.67%
- Very important: 4.97%
- Extremely important: 93.36%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0.73%
- Limited freedom: 2.62%
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 2%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 43.7%
- Every day: 54.3%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 4.29%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 23.37%
- Every day: 23.6%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 1.67%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 22.47%
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 0.73%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 17.54%
- Fairly serious: 2.4%
- Serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very serious: 3.87%
- Extremely serious: 4.08%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2024
Is this career right for me? Find jobs with conditions you prefer
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Find more alternativesCompare skills with another job
O*NET-SOC 53-1042.00 · SOC 53-1042 (exact, low confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8