Packers and Packagers, Hand
Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials.
Most important skills
- Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Coordination
- Quality Control Analysis
- Judgment and Decision Making
Key knowledge
- Production and Processing
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Administrative
- Mathematics
- Public Safety and Security
- Mechanical
- Computers and Electronics
What the work involves
- Mark and label containers, container tags, or products, using marking tools.
- Measure, weigh, and count products and materials.
- Record product, packaging, and order information on specified forms and records.
- Seal containers or materials, using glues, fasteners, nails, and hand tools.
- Assemble, line, and pad cartons, crates, and containers, using hand tools.
- Clean containers, materials, supplies, or work areas, using cleaning solutions and hand tools.
- Obtain, move, and sort products, materials, containers, and orders, using hand tools.
- Examine and inspect containers, materials, or products to ensure that product quality and packing specifications are met.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Enterprising.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (53.8% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (59.6%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (32.3%)
- 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 Packers and Packagers, Hand is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
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); BLS Employment Projections · 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 | Low | Lower on contact with others than 60% of occupations compared | 65% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 76% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 69% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 94% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Limited freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 77% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 96% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 86% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 69% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- 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: 9.75%
- Contact with others about half the time: 18.86%
- Contact with others most of the time: 6.71%
- Constant contact with others: 64.67%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 29.33%
- Fairly important: 13.69%
- Important: 25.41%
- Very important: 21.36%
- Extremely important: 10.22%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2020
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 4.4%
- Fairly important: 7.9%
- Important: 15.38%
- Very important: 24.94%
- Extremely important: 47.38%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 4.9%
- Very little freedom: 20.09%
- Limited freedom: 33.05%
- Some freedom: 30.45%
- A lot of freedom: 11.5%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Time pressure
- Never: 8.14%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0.5%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 44.31%
- Every day: 47.06%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Conflict situations
- Never: 35.81%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 41.39%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 17.4%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 4.9%
- Every day: 0.5%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 38.43%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 27.09%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 16.49%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 12.82%
- Every day: 5.17%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2020
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 23.62%
- Fairly serious: 31.85%
- Serious: 23.23%
- Very serious: 5.18%
- Extremely serious: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2020
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O*NET-SOC 53-7064.00 · SOC 53-7064 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8