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Useful experience for furniture packers/movers includes:

• jobs that involve packing or heavy lifting
• driving vans, trucks or other heavy vehicles
• labouring experience – for example, on a building site.

Furniture packers/movers may do some or all of the following:

• discuss details of moves with clients
• take an inventory of items and record any marks or damage
• drive a truck or van
• wrap and pack goods
• carry furniture, cartons and other items to the furniture removal vehicle
• load and secure items
• unload items and unpack them
• reassemble any furniture that has been disassembled
• clean and tidy moving sites and equipment.

High turnover means furniture packer/mover vacancies common

Opportunities for furniture packers/movers are good because:

• demand for them is growing due to factors such as first-home buyers moving from cities to provincial areas
• people tend to stay in the role for a short time only, due to its physically demanding nature, which means vacancies arise often.

According to the Census, 963 furniture packers/movers worked in New Zealand in 2018.

Casual work as a furniture packer/mover may lead to full-time work

Your best chance of getting full-time work in furniture moving is to start as a casual employee. Furniture-moving companies usually hire casual workers between December and January, when more people move house.

Employers may offer permanent jobs to casual workers who show they have the right skills and ability. 

Chances best for those with truck licences

Your chances of securing a job as a furniture packer/mover are higher if you have a heavy vehicle licence (Class 2 or higher), as you can then operate furniture-moving trucks.

Employers of furniture packers/movers range from small to large

Furniture packers/movers work for private companies that range from small, owner-operated firms to large international companies.

Furniture packers/movers may progress to set up their own moving company.

Furniture packers/movers need to be:

• practical
• good planners and organisers
• careful and respectful
• responsible, reliable and honest
• able to follow instructions
• good at communicating
• patient and tolerant.