Occupation

Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers

Human Advantage 65%

Significant human skills needed

AI Automation Risk Moderate Risk
4 / 10

Some tasks in this role may be augmented by AI, but human oversight and interpersonal skills remain important.

Use hands or hand tools to perform routine cutting and trimming of meat, poultry, and seafood.

Also Known As: Abalone Processor, Animal Eviscerator, Animal Skinner, Animal Sticker, Bacon Derinder, Bacon Skin Lifter, Bacon Skinner, Bacon Slicer +144 more

Video

Core Tasks

  1. Use knives, cleavers, meat saws, bandsaws, or other equipment to perform meat cutting and trimming.
  2. Weigh meats and tag containers for weight and contents.
  3. Inspect meat products for defects, bruises or blemishes and remove them along with any excess fat.
  4. Cut and trim meat to prepare for packing.
  5. Separate meats and byproducts into specified containers and seal containers.

Supplemental Tasks (7)

  1. Process primal parts into cuts that are ready for retail use.
  2. 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.
  3. Clean, trim, slice, and section carcasses for future processing.
  4. Remove parts, such as skin, feathers, scales or bones, from carcass.
  5. Obtain and distribute specified meat or carcass.
  6. Produce hamburger meat and meat trimmings.
  7. Clean and salt hides.

Emerging Tasks

New and evolving responsibilities for this role:

  • Clean meat cutting equipment.

Education & Training

Job Zone 1 Job Zone One: Little or No Preparation Needed
Education: Some of these occupations may require a high school diploma or GED certificate.
Experience: Little or no previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, a person can become a waiter or waitress even if he/she has never worked before.
On-the-Job Training: Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few days to a few months of training. Usually, an experienced worker could show you how to do the job.

Education Level Distribution

Percentage of workers in this occupation with each education level.

Less than a High School Diploma
62%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)
36%
Doctoral Degree
1%

Technology & Tools

Hot Technologies

  • Microsoft Excel

Software (4)

  • Meat inventory software
  • Sales software
  • Web browser software

Tools & Equipment (35)

  • Blast chillers
  • Bone dusters
  • Boning knives
  • Box cutters
  • Butcher knives
  • Cubing machines
  • Derinding machines
  • Electric meat grinders
  • Floor jacks
  • Forklifts
  • Gamb sticks
  • Hamburger patty makers
  • Hand saws
  • Hoisting equipment
  • Kitchen shears
  • Knife sharpeners
  • Machine rollers
  • Manual winches
  • Materials conveyors
  • Meat cleavers
  • Meat saws
  • Meat scales
  • Meat shackles
  • Meat tenderizing tools
  • Meat-cutting bandsaws
  • Needle machines
  • Personal computers
  • Pneumatic staple guns
  • Pressing machines
  • Pressure washers
  • Pricing guns
  • Rotary cleaning brushes
  • Shredding machines
  • Slicers
  • Wrapping machines

Where This Career Leads

Career progression organized by specialty track and experience level.

Food Science & Processing Advanced Manufacturing

Zone 1
Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers You are here
Zone 2
Butchers and Meat Cutters 92% match
Zone 3
First-Line Supervisors of Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Workers 76% match
Zone 4
Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers 75% match
Zone 5
Animal Scientists 73% match

Resume Builder

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Real Talk

Hear from real Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmerss about their work:

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