Production employee vs production forklift operator

The differences between production employees and production forklift operators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a production forklift operator has an average salary of $34,322, which is higher than the $32,872 average annual salary of a production employee.

The top three skills for a production employee include production floor, quality standards and safety standards. The most important skills for a production forklift operator are pallets, line production, and safety rules.

Production employee vs production forklift operator overview

	Production Employee	Production Forklift Operator
Yearly salary	$32,872	$34,322
Hourly rate	$15.80	$16.50
Growth rate	-	7%
Number of jobs	75,730	160,992
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 34%	High School Diploma, 58%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	-	4

Production employee vs production forklift operator salary

Production employees and production forklift operators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Production Employee	Production Forklift Operator
Average salary	$32,872	$34,322
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $42,000	Between $26,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Cleveland, OH	Fargo, ND
Highest paying state	Minnesota	Alaska
Best paying company	Steel Dynamics	Darigold
Best paying industry	Automotive	Manufacturing

Differences between production employee and production forklift operator education

There are a few differences between a production employee and a production forklift operator in terms of educational background:

	Production Employee	Production Forklift Operator
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 34%	High School Diploma, 58%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Production employee vs production forklift operator demographics

Here are the differences between production employees' and production forklift operators' demographics:

	Production Employee	Production Forklift Operator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 69.6% Female, 30.4%	Male, 88.5% Female, 11.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 7.9% White, 60.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 15.6% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 2.8% White, 59.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	5%	4%

Differences between production employee and production forklift operator duties and responsibilities

Production employee example responsibilities.

Accomplish collating training for revisions and charts.
Handle set up and operation of CNC mills and lathes for production.
Machine (CNC) axle shafts from a raw forging state to a finish product ready for final assembly.
Execute production activities as directed by supervisor, including performing GMP cell culture of biologic products using closed-system device.
Coordinate and participate in Kaizen cost improvement activities.

Production forklift operator example responsibilities.

Use automate systems and RF units to pull, put away and load customer product, in addition to managing inventory
Move and stock products using a stand up and sit down forklift.
Operate various forklifts from old Clark lifts to any new stand up and sit down lifts.
Load tractor trailer trucks with forklift and keep the production line stock with pallets of assort chicken parts to be package.
Execute production activities as directed by supervisor, including performing GMP cell culture of biologic products using closed-system device.
Deliver finished product to production area and stack items on pallet for pickup

Production employee vs production forklift operator skills

Common production employee skills

Production Floor, 25%
Quality Standards, 16%
Safety Standards, 13%
Work Ethic, 8%
Production Process, 6%
HACCP, 4%

Common production forklift operator skills

Pallets, 24%
Line Production, 12%
Safety Rules, 12%
Pallet Jack, 8%
RF Scanner, 6%
Quality Standards, 5%

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Production Employee vs Production Forklift Operator

Updated January 8, 2025

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