Explore by Career/Production
Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
Use hands or hand tools to perform routine cutting and trimming of meat, poultry, and seafood.
- Median pay
- $37,700
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- +5.5%
- Growing
- Typical entry
- No formal educational credential
Key skills
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Social Perceptiveness
- Coordination
- Time Management
What they do
- Use knives, cleavers, meat saws, bandsaws, or other equipment to perform meat cutting and trimming.
- Weigh meats and tag containers for weight and contents.
- Inspect meat products for defects, bruises or blemishes and remove them along with any excess fat.
- Cut and trim meat to prepare for packing.
- Separate meats and byproducts into specified containers and seal containers.
- Process primal parts into cuts that are ready for retail use.
- Prepare ready-to-heat foods by filleting meat or fish or cutting it into bite-sized pieces, preparing and adding vegetables or applying sauces or breading.
- Clean, trim, slice, and section carcasses for future processing.
- Remove parts, such as skin, feathers, scales or bones, from carcass.
- Obtain and distribute specified meat or carcass.
Majors that lead here
No mapped majors yet.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.