Packers, bottlers, canners
and fillers
Packers, bottlers, canners and fillers pack, wrap, fill, label and seal containers by hand or machine.
- Employees (UK)
- 61k
- Median annual pay
- £25,087
- Exposure score ?
- 0.0/10 Minimal 0.0/10 Minimal strict reading, with tools is 0.0/10 with-tools reading, strict is 0.0/10
- Wage exposure
- £0 £0
Higher exposure than 10% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Where the work usually starts.
This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgement, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where the work starts. Switch to With tools to see what AI plus the right context can take on.
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Attach identification labels to finished packaged items, or cut stencils and stencil information on containers, such as lot numbers or shipping destinations.
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Sort, grade, weigh, and inspect products, verifying and adjusting product weight or measurement to meet specifications.
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Stop or reset machines when malfunctions occur, clear machine jams, and report malfunctions to a supervisor.
For this role the labels do not surface obvious candidates, so the work would start with the highest-stakes tasks below and find the AI angle in conversation.
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Attach identification labels to finished packaged items, or cut stencils and stencil information on containers, such as lot numbers or shipping destinations.
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Sort, grade, weigh, and inspect products, verifying and adjusting product weight or measurement to meet specifications.
-
Stop or reset machines when malfunctions occur, clear machine jams, and report malfunctions to a supervisor.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders" (51-9111.00).
What AI can already do
0 of 20 tasks, unaided
No tasks here are labelled as something an LLM can do unaided. Switch to 'With tools' above to see what changes when AI is paired with the right context.
What still needs a person
20 of 20 tasks
Attach identification labels to finished packaged items, or cut stencils and stencil information on containers, such as lot numbers or shipping destinations.
Sort, grade, weigh, and inspect products, verifying and adjusting product weight or measurement to meet specifications.
Stop or reset machines when malfunctions occur, clear machine jams, and report malfunctions to a supervisor.
Observe machine operations to ensure quality and conformity of filled or packaged products to standards.
Remove finished packaged items from machine and separate rejected items.
Monitor the production line, watching for problems such as pile-ups, jams, or glue that isn't sticking properly.
Inspect and remove defective products and packaging material.
Start machine by engaging controls.
Tend or operate machine that packages product.
Clean, oil, and make minor adjustments or repairs to machinery and equipment, such as opening valves or setting guides.
Regulate machine flow, speed, or temperature.
Adjust machine components and machine tension and pressure according to size or processing angle of product.
Supply materials to spindles, conveyors, hoppers, or other feeding devices and unload packaged product.
Stack finished packaged items, or wrap protective material around each item, and pack the items in cartons or containers.
Package the product in the form in which it will be sent out, for example, filling bags with flour from a chute or spout.
Stock and sort product for packaging or filling machine operation, and replenish packaging supplies, such as wrapping paper, plastic sheet, boxes, cartons, glue, ink, or labels.
Count and record finished and rejected packaged items.
Clean packaging containers, line and pad crates, or assemble cartons to prepare for product packing.
Secure finished packaged items by hand tying, sewing, gluing, stapling, or attaching fastener.
Clean and remove damaged or otherwise inferior materials to prepare raw products for processing.
Tasks via O*NET "Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders" (51-9111.00).
What AI can already do
0 of 20 tasks, with tools
Even with tools, no tasks here are labelled as something AI can do today. The work is judgment, presence, or context-heavy enough that the academic labelling sees no leverage.
What still needs a person
20 of 20 tasks
Attach identification labels to finished packaged items, or cut stencils and stencil information on containers, such as lot numbers or shipping destinations.
Sort, grade, weigh, and inspect products, verifying and adjusting product weight or measurement to meet specifications.
Stop or reset machines when malfunctions occur, clear machine jams, and report malfunctions to a supervisor.
Observe machine operations to ensure quality and conformity of filled or packaged products to standards.
Remove finished packaged items from machine and separate rejected items.
Monitor the production line, watching for problems such as pile-ups, jams, or glue that isn't sticking properly.
Inspect and remove defective products and packaging material.
Start machine by engaging controls.
Tend or operate machine that packages product.
Clean, oil, and make minor adjustments or repairs to machinery and equipment, such as opening valves or setting guides.
Regulate machine flow, speed, or temperature.
Adjust machine components and machine tension and pressure according to size or processing angle of product.
Supply materials to spindles, conveyors, hoppers, or other feeding devices and unload packaged product.
Stack finished packaged items, or wrap protective material around each item, and pack the items in cartons or containers.
Package the product in the form in which it will be sent out, for example, filling bags with flour from a chute or spout.
Stock and sort product for packaging or filling machine operation, and replenish packaging supplies, such as wrapping paper, plastic sheet, boxes, cartons, glue, ink, or labels.
Count and record finished and rejected packaged items.
Clean packaging containers, line and pad crates, or assemble cartons to prepare for product packing.
Secure finished packaged items by hand tying, sewing, gluing, stapling, or attaching fastener.
Clean and remove damaged or otherwise inferior materials to prepare raw products for processing.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Elementary occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons