The different types of picker jobs can be categorized into the broad areas of fruit pickers who work outdoors on farms and orchards, and picker packers who work in warehouse settings. Fruit picking jobs are a type of itinerant, seasonal work that involve a lot of physical labor outdoors. These picking jobs typically last only as long as the harvest season, though some workers move from area to area, and are able to remain employed throughout much of the year. Warehouse picker jobs are typically more permanent in nature, though additional employees are often brought on seasonally in some industries. These picker jobs involve locating items within warehouses, retrieving them, and sometimes also preparing them for shipment or delivery.
Picking, as a job description, can refer to a number of different occupations across several different industries. These jobs can be seasonal or permanent, and may or may not lead to further career developments depending on the specific position and situation. There are a few main types of picker jobs that most people are familiar with, such as fruit and warehouse picking, though the term can also refer to other jobs that involve selecting and retrieving items.
The fruit and vegetable picking industry is one of the most common sources of picker jobs. These jobs are necessary, since some crops are too delicate or difficult to harvest efficiently with machinery. Fruit and vegetable pickers are employed seasonally to manually harvest everything from cherries to various types of squash. There is typically a lot of manual labor involved, and the pay can vary depending on the location, and exactly what is being picked. Some fruit and vegetable pickers are itinerant workers who move from place to place to keep up with each harvest, while others are young people with very little work experience, or travelers in need of short term jobs.
Other picker jobs are based in warehouses and involve picking orders, instead of fruits and vegetables. The workers who hold these types of jobs are sometimes referred to as picker packers if they locate and pull orders in addition to packaging them for shipment. Most warehouse picker jobs are permanent in nature, and they can often lead to career advancement through various warehouse roles, and even into management. Some warehouse picker jobs are seasonal as well though, as many warehouses receive more business at particular times of the year, and need to hire temporary picker packers to keep up with the order volume.