Warehouse worker

Warehouse workers load and unload deliveries, move goods to storage areas and pack orders for dispatch.

Also known as: Warehouse operative, warehouse picker

• Starter salary£21,000 a year
• Experienced£30,000 a year
• Typical hours40 to 48 a week

What you'll do

As a warehouse worker, you'll:

• receive deliveries of goods
• inspect paperwork and check for damaged or missing items
• move goods around the warehouse using lifting equipment
• check stock levels and make sure items are stored safely
• pack, wrap and load items to be dispatched
• clean the warehouse

Working environment

You could work in a warehouse.

Your working environment may be at height, physically demanding and outdoors some of the time.

You may need to wear protective clothing.

Skills and knowledge you'll need

You'll need:

• the ability to work well with others
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• the ability to organise your time and workload
• the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
• to be flexible and open to change
• excellent verbal communication skills
• the ability to work well with your hands
• thinking and reasoning skills
• to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

How to become a warehouse worker

You can get into this job through an apprenticeship or by applying directly.

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do an apprenticeship with a warehouse or depot. These include:

• Supply Chain Warehouse Operative Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
• Express Delivery Sortation Hub Operative Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship

Apprenticeships take about one year to complete and combine on-the-job training with off-site learning.

Entry requirements

Employers will set their own entry requirements.

Direct application

You can apply directly to be a warehouse worker.

Experience in warehouse, storage or delivery work can be useful.

You might not need qualifications, but some employers may want you to have GCSEs at grade 4 (C) in English and maths, or equivalent qualifications. Some IT skills can also be helpful.

Career path and progression

With experience, you could become a team leader, shift supervisor or warehouse manager.

You could also move into:

• quality control
• freight planning
• distribution and delivery

Career tips

It may help when looking for work if you've done forklift training, though employers will often put you through this once you've completed your probation period with them.

Some warehouse worker jobs are temporary or seasonal.

Guides for this industry

• Warehouse & Light Industrial: pay, interviews and getting started →

Related roles

• Job roleForklift driver
• Job rolePacker
• Job roleWarehouse manager
• Job roleProduction worker (manufacturing)

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0