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Home›Food and Related Products Machine Operators: Jobs in Demand in Europe (2025)

Food and Related Products Machine Operators: Jobs in Demand in Europe (2025)

Food and Related Products Machine Operators is an official occupation group (ISCO-08 code 8160) used by the International Labour Organization and Eurostat.

  • Bakery products machine operator
  • Bread production machine operator
  • Chocolate production machine operator
  • Cigarette production machine operator
  • Cigar production machine operator
  • Dairy products machine operator
  • Fish processing machine operator
  • Meat processing machine operator
  • Milk processing machine operator
12European countries report a shortage (EURES 2025)
5countries report a surplus
410open job ads right now in Germany and Sweden
8160ISCO-08 occupation code
Short answerIn the 2025 EURES report on labour shortages, 12 European countries reported a shortage of food and related products machine operators: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. 5 reported a surplus: Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece and Luxembourg. Belgium and Finland appear in both lists, which usually means shortages in some regions and surpluses in others.

Latest food and related products machine operators job ads

Real vacancies from the official public employment services, updated daily. Job titles are translated into English automatically; the full ad opens on the official site in German or Swedish (your browser's translate button turns it into English).

Germany

346 open ads

Source: Bundesagentur für Arbeit (German Federal Employment Agency). Ads are written by employers; Placeivo does not check them. See all ads in Germany

Sweden

64 open ads

Source: Arbetsförmedlingen (Swedish Public Employment Service). Ads are written by employers; Placeivo does not check them. See all ads in Sweden

Where food and related products machine operators are needed in Europe

CountryEURES 2025Average gross pay, all plant and machine operators and assemblers (2022)1-bed rent in the capital
BulgariaShortage€626 a monthSofia: €650
CzechiaShortage€1,285 a monthPrague: €1,250
ItalyShortage€2,300 a month *Rome: €1,300
LithuaniaShortageNot yet verifiedVilnius: €830
NetherlandsShortage€3,120 a monthNot yet verified
NorwayShortage€4,749 a monthOslo: €2,000
PortugalShortage€1,087 a month *Lisbon: €1,400
RomaniaShortage€924 a month *Not yet verified
SlovakiaShortage€1,230 a monthBratislava: €910
SloveniaShortage€1,633 a monthLjubljana: €950
BelgiumShortage and surplusNot yet verifiedBrussels: €1,150
FinlandShortage and surplus€3,361 a month *Helsinki: €1,150
AustriaSurplus€3,040 a month *Vienna: €1,250
GreeceSurplus€1,416 a month *Athens: €1,150
LuxembourgSurplusNot yet verifiedLuxembourg: €1,900

Pay: Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey 2022, mean gross monthly earnings of all plant and machine operators and assemblers in each country, in euros. This is the average for the whole occupation group, not for food and related products machine operators alone, and before tax. * Firms with 10 or more employees only. Rent: Eurostat, good-quality 1-bedroom flat in the capital, 2025.

What food and related products machine operators do

Food and related machine operators set, operate and attend machinery used to slaughter animals, trim meat from carcasses, and bake, freeze, heat, crush, mix, blend and otherwise process foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco leaves.

Typical tasks

  • Operating and monitoring machinery used to restrain, stun, slaughter animals and to trim carcasses into standard meat and fish cuts
  • Setting, operating and attending machinery and ovens to mix, bake and otherwise prepare bread and flour confectionery products
  • Operating machinery to crush, mix, malt, cook and ferment grains and fruits to produce beer, wines, malt liquors, vinegar, yeast and related products
  • Attending equipment to make jam, toffee, cheese, processed cheese, margarine, syrup, ice, pasta, ice-cream, sausages, chocolate, maize starch, edible fats and dextrin
  • Operating equipment to cool, heat, dry, roast, blanch, pasteurize, smoke, sterilize, freeze, evaporate and concentrate foodstuffs and liquids used in food processing
  • Mixing, pulping, grinding, blending and separating foodstuffs and liquids with churning, pressing, sieving, grinding and filtering equipment
  • Processing tobacco leaves by machine to make cigarettes, cigars, pipe and other tobacco products

Finding food and related products machine operators jobs in Europe

Search all EU vacancies on EURES Check if your job is regulated
  • EURES is the official job portal of the EU public employment services. The search above looks for "Dairy products machine operator".
  • Some jobs are regulated professions: before you can work, your qualification may need to be recognised in the new country.
  • If you are not an EU/EEA citizen you will usually need a work permit or a visa such as the EU Blue Card. Check the rules of the country's immigration authority.

Cost of living where the jobs are

Take-home pay needed to rent a good 1-bedroom flat in the capitals of countries reporting a shortage:

SofiaPragueRomeVilniusOsloLisbonBratislavaLjubljanaBrusselsHelsinki

About this data

  • Shortage and surplus: European Labour Authority, EURES Report on labour shortages and surpluses 2025, annex table 21 (published 2026). Each country's public employment service reports which occupations it finds hard to fill or in oversupply. Countries not listed did not report this occupation as either.
  • Definition, tasks and job titles: International Labour Organization, ISCO-08 structure and definitions.
  • Pay: Eurostat, Structure of Earnings Survey 2022 (earn_ses22_48), by occupation group.
  • Job ads: Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Germany) and Arbetsförmedlingen (Sweden), refreshed about once a day.

See all jobs in demand in Europe · Methodology