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Production

Slaughterers and meat packers

Typically requires No formal educational credential

What is this page & how do I use it?

This is a research report for one career — the kind an analyst would write for a stock. The rating at the top is the neutral baseline (same for everyone); below it come the cases for and against, how the last official forecast for this career actually aged, and what the education path costs and pays.

How to use it: read the bulls-vs-bears case, then hit Score this career to weigh it against your other options with your own interests factored in.

CareerStar rating
RiskyLow uncertainty

Analyst take: Softer prospects — +2.2% projected growth, low AI exposure (0/100).

34
/ 100
low riskhigh
top row = high reward

Moat (borrowed from investing — the water that defends a castle): how shielded this career is from AI. Narrow = some shelter, but AI can reach a real share of its tasks.

The small grid is a style box (borrowed from Morningstar’s fund reports): the blue square places this career on reward (top row = high) versus risk (left column = low), against all 730 careers. Low uncertainty means the score leans mostly on measured data (growth, pay) rather than forward-looking bets, so it's comparatively solid.

🐂 Bulls say
  • +Low AI exposure — resilient (0% of tasks exposed).
🐻 Bears say
  • Below-median pay ($39,790).
📜 Reality check — how the last forecast for this career fared

In 2014, the U.S. government projected -0.6% growth for this career by 2024. What actually happened: -19.4%. Reality fell short of the forecast — a reminder that every number on this page is an estimate, and this is how the last one aged. Full back-test →

Was this rating fair?
Projected growth
+2.2%
Median pay
$39,790
AI exposure
0/100
share of tasks exposed to AI — not job loss

Education & ROI — how to get here

Real outcomes for the college majors that feed this occupation, across 62 bachelor’s programs.

Median earnings
$30,622
1 year after graduating
Typical debt
$27,000
median federal debt
Pay-to-debt
1.1×
first-year pay ÷ debt
Feeder majors
Culinary Arts and Related Services
Selective schools offering these majors
Cornell University
NY · 9% admit rate
$88,140/yr
$104,043 grad pay
College of the Ozarks
MO · 12% admit rate
$33,734/yr
$41,592 grad pay
Walnut Hill College
PA · 43% admit rate
$35,504/yr
$36,689 grad pay
Southwest Minnesota State University
MN · 62% admit rate
$24,757/yr
$51,342 grad pay
Southern Adventist University
TN · 66% admit rate
$38,618/yr
$53,723 grad pay
Siena Heights University
MI · 69% admit rate
$44,449/yr
$57,529 grad pay

Earnings & debt from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard; majors mapped to this occupation via the NCES CIP→SOC crosswalk. A grounded ROI snapshot, not a guarantee — pay varies widely by school and specialty.

What this work involves

productionmanufacturinghands-on