Hand Laborers and Material Movers
Career, Salary and Education Information
What They Do: Hand laborers and material movers manually move freight, stock, or other materials.
Work Environment: Most hand laborers and material movers work full time. Because materials are shipped around the clock, some workers, especially those in warehousing, work overnight shifts.
How to Become One: There are usually no formal educational requirements for anyone to become a hand laborer or material mover. Employers typically require only that applicants be physically able to perform the work.
Salary: The median annual wage for hand laborers and material movers was $38,220 in May 2025.
Job Outlook: Overall employment of hand laborers and material movers is projected to grow 4 percent from 2025 to 2035, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
Related Careers: Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of hand laborers and material movers with similar occupations.
Following is everything you need to know about a career as a hand laborers or material mover with lots of details. As a first step, take a look at some of the following jobs, which are real jobs with real employers. You will be able to see the very real job career requirements for employers who are actively hiring. The link will open in a new tab so that you can come back to this page to continue reading about the career:
Top 3 Material Mover Jobs
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Distribution Warehouse Associate
- Abercrombie and Fitch
- New Albany,OH
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. - Distribution Center Hiring Event! Date: Thursday, November 12th, 2026 & Friday, November 13th, 2026 Time: Thu 8:30AM - 4PM | Fri 10AM - 3:30PM Location: 7775 Smiths Mill Rd., New Albany, OH...
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Forklift Operator - Full Time + Overtime, Paid Training
- Abercrombie & Fitch
- New Albany,OH
Job Description: Our distribution network is built to deliver stock to our stores and fulfill direct-to-consumer orders with speed and efficiency. Merchandise is shipped to our distribution centers ("DCs”), where it is...
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Concrete Cutting Trainee
- Penhall Company
- Columbus,OH
Concrete Cutting Trainee Application Instructions Penhall Company has been shaping the future of concrete services for over 65 years. As the nations leader in concrete cutting, coring, scanning, and demolition, and ranked 3rd in Demolition by ENR's...
What Hand Laborers and Material Movers Do[About this section] [To Top]
Hand laborers and material movers manually move freight, stock, or other materials. Some of these workers feed or remove material to or from machines, clean vehicles, pick up unwanted household goods, and pack materials for moving.
Duties of Hand Laborers and Material Movers
Hand laborers and material movers typically do the following:
- Manually move material from one place to another
- Pack or wrap products by hand
- Keep a record of the material they move
- Signal machine operators to help move material
- Clean cars, equipment, and workplaces
In warehouses and in wholesale and retail operations, hand laborers and material movers work closely with material moving machine operators and material recording clerks. Some workers are employed in manufacturing industries, loading material onto conveyor belts or other machines.
The following are examples of types of hand laborers and material movers:
Cleaners of vehicles and equipment wash automobiles and other vehicles, as well as storage tanks, pipelines, and related machinery. They use cleaning products, vacuums, hoses, and brushes. Most of these workers clean cars at a carwash, an automobile dealership, or a rental agency. Some clean industrial equipment at manufacturing firms. Some—for example, those who work at a carwash, also known as carwash attendants—interact with customers.
Hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers move materials to and from storage and production areas, loading docks, delivery trucks, ships, and containers. Although their specific duties may vary, most of these movers, often called pickers, work in warehouses. Some workers retrieve products from storage and move them to loading areas. Other workers load and unload cargo from a truck. When moving a package, pickers keep track of the package number, sometimes with a hand-held scanner, to ensure proper delivery. Sometimes they open containers and sort the material.
Hand packers and packagers package a variety of materials by hand. They may label cartons, inspect items for defects, and keep records of items packed. Some of these workers pack materials for shipment and move them to a loading dock. Hand packers in grocery stores, also known as grocery baggers, bag groceries for customers at checkout.
Machine feeders and offbearers process materials by feeding them into equipment or by removing them from equipment. The equipment is generally operated by other workers, such as material moving machine operators. Machine feeders and offbearers help the operator if the machine becomes jammed or needs minor repairs. Machine feeders also track the amount of material they process during a shift.
Refuse and recyclable material collectors gather garbage and recyclables from homes and businesses to transport to a dump, landfill, or recycling center. Many collectors lift garbage cans by hand and empty them into their truck. Some collectors drive the garbage or recycling truck along a scheduled route and may use a hydraulic lift to empty the contents of a dumpster into the truck.
Work Environment for Hand Laborers and Material Movers[About this section] [To Top]
Hand laborers and material movers hold about 6.5 million jobs. Employment in the detailed occupations that make up hand laborers and material movers is distributed as follows:
| Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand | 2,806,500 |
| Stockers and order fillers | 2,472,700 |
| Packers and packagers, hand | 602,300 |
| Cleaners of vehicles and equipment | 391,700 |
| Refuse and recyclable material collectors | 138,700 |
| Machine feeders and offbearers | 61,200 |
The largest employers of hand laborers and material movers are as follows:
| Transportation and warehousing | 21% |
| Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services | 15% |
| Wholesale trade | 11% |
| Manufacturing | 10% |
Hand laborers and material movers lift and carry heavy objects, and their work is usually repetitive and physically demanding. They bend, kneel, crouch, or crawl in awkward positions.
Injuries and Illnesses for Hand Laborers and Material Movers
Hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers and refuse and recyclable material collectors have some of the highest rates of injuries and illnesses of all occupations. Moving heavy objects around warehouses or onto trucks, or bending while cleaning a vehicle, may lead to sprains, strains, or overexertion.
Hand Laborer and Material Mover Work Schedules
Most workers in these occupations work full time.
Shifts longer than 8 hours are common, and sometimes overtime is available. Because materials are shipped around the clock, some workers, especially those in warehousing, work overnight shifts.
How to Become a Hand Laborer and Material Mover[About this section] [To Top]
Get the education you need: Find schools for Hand Laborers and Material Movers near you!
There are usually no formal educational requirements for anyone to become a hand laborer or material mover. Employers typically require only that applicants be physically able to perform the work.
Education for Hand Laborers and Material Movers
There are no formal educational requirements for anyone to become a hand laborer or material mover.
Hand Laborer and Material Mover Training
Most positions for hand laborers and material movers require less than 1 month of on-the-job training. Some workers need only a few days of training, and most training is done by a supervisor or a more experienced worker who decides when trainees are ready to work on their own.
Workers learn safety rules as part of their training. Many of these rules are standardized through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Licenses, Certifications, and Registrations for Hand Laborers and Material Movers
Refuse and recyclable material collectors who drive trucks that exceed a certain capacity—such as vehicles with the combined weight of the vehicle, passengers, and cargo exceeding 26,000 pounds—must have a commercial driver's license (CDL). Obtaining a CDL requires passing written, skill, and vision tests.
Important Qualities for Hand Laborers and Material Movers
Customer-service skills. Hand laborers and material movers who work with the public, such as grocery baggers or carwash attendants, must be pleasant and courteous to customers.
Hand-eye coordination. Most hand laborers and material movers use their arms and hands to manipulate objects or move objects into specific positions.
Listening skills. Hand laborers and material movers follow instructions that a supervisor gives them.
Physical stamina. Hand laborers and material movers need the endurance to perform strenuous tasks, such as moving or cleaning objects, throughout the day.
Physical strength. Some hand laborers and material movers must be able to lift and carry heavy objects.
Hand Laborer and Material Mover Salaries[About this section] [More salary/earnings info] [To Top]
Salary and job outlook data updated October 2026 from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook (May 2025 wages, 2025-35 employment projections).
The median annual wage for hand laborers and material movers was $38,220 in May 2025. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $30,190, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $52,340.
Median annual wages for hand laborers and material movers in May 2025 were as follows:
| Refuse and recyclable material collectors | $49,690 |
| Machine feeders and offbearers | $41,220 |
| Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand | $40,240 |
| Stockers and order fillers | $37,330 |
| Packers and packagers, hand | $36,280 |
| Cleaners of vehicles and equipment | $35,830 |
In May 2025, the median annual wages for hand laborers and material movers in the top industries in which they worked were as follows:
| Transportation and warehousing | $44,710 |
| Wholesale trade | $41,600 |
| Manufacturing | $41,370 |
| Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services | $36,200 |
| Retail trade | $36,090 |
Most hand laborers and material movers work full time, although part-time work is common. Work schedules vary and may include nights and weekends.
Job Outlook for Hand Laborers and Material Movers[About this section] [To Top]
Overall employment of hand laborers and material movers is projected to grow 4 percent from 2025 to 2035, about as fast as the average for all occupations.
About 904,200 openings for hand laborers and material movers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
Employment
Projected employment of hand laborers and material movers varies by occupation (see table).
Hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers will still be needed to move materials in many sectors of the economy. However, some warehouses have installed equipment, such as high-speed conveyors and sorting systems, to increase efficiency.
Machine feeders and offbearers’ tasks are likely to continue to be automated. The increasing ability of technology to feed and lift materials to machines is expected to lead to a decline in employment for machine feeders.
Packers and packagers have fewer manual tasks as technology in warehouses and packaging facilities continues to evolve. Grocery stores, which employ many of these workers to bag groceries, may need fewer baggers as a growing number of stores implement self-checkout, order pickup, and delivery.
Demand for stockers and order fillers will be supported by an increased need for workers to prepare orders for pickup or delivery. The consumer preference to buy online and pickup in-store is expected to accelerate demand for these workers who will be needed to fill a growing number of online orders.
Refuse and recyclable material collectors may experience some growth as the amount of trash and recycling generated by the growing population increases. However, this growth may be constrained by efficiencies from automation and improvements to routing.
Employment growth of cleaners of vehicles and equipment is expected to be tied to demand for automotive repair and maintenance services.
| Occupational Title | Employment, 2025 | Projected Employment, 2035 | Change, 2025-35 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | Numeric | |||
| Hand laborers and material movers | 6,917,800 | 7,206,700 | 4 | 288,900 |
| Cleaners of vehicles and equipment | 419,500 | 435,800 | 4 | 16,300 |
| Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand | 2,940,300 | 2,991,900 | 2 | 51,600 |
| Machine feeders and offbearers | 41,800 | 36,300 | -13 | -5,500 |
| Packers and packagers, hand | 555,500 | 528,000 | -5 | -27,500 |
| Stockers and order fillers | 2,804,300 | 3,055,000 | 9 | 250,700 |
| Refuse and recyclable material collectors | 156,400 | 159,600 | 2 | 3,200 |
More Hand Laborer and Material Mover Information[About this section] [To Top]
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A portion of the information on this page is used by permission of the U.S. Department of Labor.