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The differences between warehouse technicians and warehouse pickers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a warehouse technician has an average salary of $34,985, which is higher than the $32,263 average annual salary of a warehouse picker.
The top three skills for a warehouse technician include customer service, pallets and customer orders. The most important skills for a warehouse picker are pallets, electric pallet jack, and customer orders.
| Warehouse Technician | Warehouse Picker | |
| Yearly salary | $34,985 | $32,263 |
| Hourly rate | $16.82 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | 1% | 1% |
| Number of jobs | 231,431 | 122,248 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 39% | High School Diploma, 51% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A warehouse technician is responsible for monitoring the incoming and outgoing goods and services in the warehouse or distribution centers. Warehouse technicians verify shipment details, assist with packaging items, move merchandise to storage areas, inspect the quality of items for release, and escalate defective products for immediate replacement. They also operate various warehouse equipment and machinery, conduct maintenance repairs, and loading and unloading items from the delivery trucks. A warehouse technician must have excellent time-management and organizational skills, especially on processing orders and creating reports for inventory receipts.
Warehouse pickers are skilled employees who are responsible for pulling selected items from storage or warehouses and prepare them for shipment. These pickers must prepare the orders of customers on a pallet neatly and safely wrapped them with plastic wrap while processing their invoices. They must receive and sort out large orders of inventory delivered daily as well as perform the necessary manual labor such as sweeping, refuse removal, and general janitorial. Warehouse pickers must also follow safety standards according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to clean and maintain the warehouse.
Warehouse technicians and warehouse pickers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Warehouse Technician | Warehouse Picker | |
| Average salary | $34,985 | $32,263 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $42,000 | Between $26,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Kent, WA | Portland, OR |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Oregon |
| Best paying company | Freeport-McMoRan | Chewy |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Transportation |
There are a few differences between a warehouse technician and a warehouse picker in terms of educational background:
| Warehouse Technician | Warehouse Picker | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 39% | High School Diploma, 51% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between warehouse technicians' and warehouse pickers' demographics:
| Warehouse Technician | Warehouse Picker | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.3% Female, 13.7% | Male, 70.9% Female, 29.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 20.5% Asian, 6.5% White, 56.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% | Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 6.8% White, 58.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |