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Useful experience for meat/seafood process workers includes:

• any factory work
• farming, fishing or aquaculture work
• butchery work
• work handling or preparing food.

Meat/seafood process workers may do some or all of the following:

• stun and kill animals
• prepare animals for processing by removing skin or excess flesh
• cut or fillet meat, fish or shellfish to size requirements
• remove bones from animals
• grade, pack and weigh meat, fish or shellfish
• maintain processing machinery and other equipment such as knives
• clean the processing area and packing line with hot water or sanitising chemicals
• carry out hygiene and quality control checks.

Large occupation with good employment opportunities

Meat/seafood processing is a large area of employment in New Zealand, which means the chances of getting a job are good.

According to the Census, 18,729 meat/seafood process workers worked in New Zealand in 2018 (meat boner and slicer 2,544, slaughterer 4,785, meat process worker 6,927, poultry process worker 861, seafood process worker 1,743, other process workers 1,869).

Seasonal work creates high staff turnover

Most meat/seafood processing plants operate between six and nine months of the year, so most workers are employed on seasonal contracts. As a result, staff turnover rates are high. Peak times vary depending on the region and the type of meat or seafood being processed.

Large-scale recruitment drives take place at the start of every season. Your best chance of getting work is to contact the employer directly before the new season.

During the off season (usually winter), many meat/seafood process workers find work in other industries such as horticulture, farming and forestry. Poultry workers can work in the poultry processing industry year round as there are no seasonal highs and lows.  

Meat/seafood process workers mainly work for large employers

Meat/seafood process workers are employed by meat and seafood companies in processing plants on land or processing ships at sea.

Some of the biggest employers of meat/seafood process workers are:

• Silver Fern Farms, Alliance Group, ANZCO Foods, AFFCO (red meat processing), who each run multiple processing sites around the country.
• Talley's, Sanford, Sealord, Moana Pacific (seafood processing).

Primary Industry Training Organisation

(07) 858 4821 - info@primaryito.co.nz - www.primary.co.nz

Meat/seafood process workers may move into factory supervisor positions or production manager roles.

Those working in seafood processing at sea may also move into deckhand or other crew positions.

Meat/seafood process workers may specialise in different stages of processing, such as slaughtering and grading animals, or grading certain species of fish or shellfish.

Meat/seafood process workers need to be:

• good at managing their time 
• careful, quick and efficient
• able to follow instructions
• able to work well as part of a team
• willing to learn new skills 
• comfortable spending long periods at sea.

Those working in supervisory roles also need to be:

• good at record keeping
• good at time management
• able to manage people
• able to communicate well.