Job market evidence
Chemical and related process operatives
Official occupation SOC 2020 8113, United Kingdom
Keeping it puts it in My Career, where its published evidence is listed beside anything else you keep. It is remembered in this browser only, no account, and nothing about you is stored on our side.
The latest published figures
- Online advert demand 660 adverts observed, June 2026
- Advertised salary £37,700 median stated, through May 2025
- Most mentioned requirement 80.5% of adverts, Business Operations, Process and Program Management, 2025 so far
- Official vacancies 712,000 all industries, Vacancy Survey, June 2026
Each figure carries the period it describes. They are published on different schedules, so they do not all describe the same moment.
Advertised salary
Evidence through May 2025
Advertised salary evidence through May 2025: £37,700 median.
A UK-wide figure. Advertised salary is not published by area for occupations at this level of detail, so there is no local equivalent of it.
Latest advertised-salary evidence is older than the demand data. The most recent published salary evidence for this measure covers May 2025, where the advert count covers June 2026. It is shown as historical context rather than an estimate of what the role pays now.
Occupations that stated about the same
130 occupations stated a median between £30,000 and £40,000 in May 2025.
- Buyers and procurement officers £37,700
- Boat and ship builders and repairers £37,500
- Roofers, roof tilers and slaters £37,500
- Vehicle paint technicians £37,500
- Fire service officers (watch manager and below) £38,000
- Nannies and au pairs £37,400
- Pharmaceutical technicians £37,400
- Police officers (sergeant and below) £37,400
Advertised salary, not pay.
More about this figure
Adverts that state a salary are a self-selecting subset of all adverts.
Where this figure comes from
- Measure
- The median salary stated in online job adverts for this occupation, among adverts that stated one. Advertised, not paid.
- Source
- ONS, Online job advert salaries (OGL v3.0)
- Evidence period
- May 2025
- Geography
- United Kingdom
- Occupation grain
- SOC 2020 unit group, the most detailed
- Comparability
- Not applicable, this figure is a single observation, not a comparison.
- Limitation
- Advertised salary, not pay. Adverts that state a salary are a self-selecting subset of all adverts.
- Last read by this site
- 21 August 2026 When this site last loaded the source, not when the evidence was published.
- Source edition
- src_049_ons_online_job_advert_salaries@2025-07-16#73e07873fb07
- Publisher last saved this file
- 16 July 2025 The date the file was last saved by its publisher, which is not the same as the date it was released. The evidence period above is what the figure describes.
How advertised salary has changed
Monthly, May 2024 to May 2025
Median advertised salary each month from May 2024 to May 2025, over 13 published periods on the same basis. This is what adverts stated, not what the work pays.
The vertical scale starts at the lowest month shown, not at zero, so the shape is visible. The dashed line is an average this site calculates over the published months to make the shape easier to read. ONS does not publish it, it is not a forecast, and it says nothing about whether a month was good or bad.
Show the 13 published monthly figures Hide the 13 published monthly figures
| Month | Median advertised salary | Publisher revision |
|---|---|---|
| May 2024 | £33,600 | As first published |
| June 2024 | £34,300 | As first published |
| July 2024 | £35,000 | As first published |
| August 2024 | £35,000 | As first published |
| September 2024 | £35,000 | As first published |
| October 2024 | £35,000 | As first published |
| November 2024 | £35,000 | As first published |
| December 2024 | £36,000 | As first published |
| January 2025 | £36,000 | As first published |
| February 2025 | £35,000 | As first published |
| March 2025 | £36,000 | As first published |
| April 2025 | £37,500 | As first published |
| May 2025 | £37,700 | As first published |
Advertised salary, not pay.
More about this figure
Adverts that state a salary are a self-selecting subset of all adverts. The published series runs from 2017-01 but only 2024-05 to 2025-05 is shown, because ONS documents changes in which sources it collected from outside that stretch and a difference across one of those is partly a change in the collection.
Where this figure comes from
- Measure
- The median salary stated in online job adverts for this occupation, among adverts that stated one. Advertised, not paid.
- Source
- ONS, Online job advert salaries (OGL v3.0)
- Evidence period
- May 2025
- Geography
- United Kingdom
- Occupation grain
- SOC 2020 unit group, the most detailed
- Comparability
- Comparable
- Limitation
- Advertised salary, not pay. Adverts that state a salary are a self-selecting subset of all adverts. The published series runs from 2017-01 but only 2024-05 to 2025-05 is shown, because ONS documents changes in which sources it collected from outside that stretch and a difference across one of those is partly a change in the collection.
- Last read by this site
- 21 August 2026 When this site last loaded the source, not when the evidence was published.
- Source edition
- src_049_ons_online_job_advert_salaries@2025-07-16#73e07873fb07
- Publisher last saved this file
- 16 July 2025 The date the file was last saved by its publisher, which is not the same as the date it was released. The evidence period above is what the figure describes.
Online advert demand
Evidence period: June 2026
660 online job adverts were observed in the published measure for June 2026.
Online job adverts observed in an ONS-published measure.
More about this figure
This counts adverts, not vacancies and not positions that exist. ONS recorded roughly 66 percent more adverts than official Vacancy Survey vacancies for the same month.
Where this figure comes from
- Measure
- The number of new online job adverts ONS observed for this occupation in the period. Adverts, deduplicated upstream by ONS, not vacancies and not positions.
- Source
- ONS, Online job advert volumes by occupation (OGL v3.0)
- Evidence period
- June 2026
- Geography
- Total UK
- Occupation grain
- SOC 2020 unit group, the most detailed
- Comparability
- Not applicable, this figure is a single observation, not a comparison.
- Limitation
- Online job adverts observed in an ONS-published measure. This counts adverts, not vacancies and not positions that exist. ONS recorded roughly 66 percent more adverts than official Vacancy Survey vacancies for the same month.
- Last read by this site
- 21 August 2026 When this site last loaded the source, not when the evidence was published.
- Source edition
- src_046_ons_labour_demand_volumes_soc2020@2026-07-23#f1fff167d0a0
- Publisher last saved this file
- 23 July 2026 The date the file was last saved by its publisher, which is not the same as the date it was released. The evidence period above is what the figure describes.
How advert demand has changed
Monthly, May 2024 to June 2026
New online job adverts observed each month from May 2024 to June 2026, over 25 published periods on the same basis.
The publisher revised July 2025 to April 2026 after first publishing them, so the figures below are the corrected ones and no single difference is stated across them.
The vertical scale starts at the lowest month shown, not at zero, so the shape is visible. The dashed line is an average this site calculates over the published months to make the shape easier to read. ONS does not publish it, it is not a forecast, and it says nothing about whether a month was good or bad.
Show the 25 published monthly figures Hide the 25 published monthly figures
| Month | Adverts observed | Publisher revision |
|---|---|---|
| May 2024 | 751 | As first published |
| June 2024 | 762 | As first published |
| July 2024 | 630 | As first published |
| August 2024 | 624 | As first published |
| September 2024 | 701 | As first published |
| October 2024 | 648 | As first published |
| November 2024 | 592 | As first published |
| December 2024 | 431 | As first published |
| January 2025 | 671 | As first published |
| February 2025 | 779 | As first published |
| March 2025 | 727 | As first published |
| April 2025 | 712 | As first published |
| May 2025 | 846 | As first published |
| June 2025 | 741 | As first published |
| July 2025 | 792 | Revised after first publication |
| August 2025 | 806 | Revised after first publication |
| September 2025 | 738 | Revised after first publication |
| October 2025 | 740 | Revised after first publication |
| November 2025 | 742 | Revised after first publication |
| December 2025 | 390 | Revised after first publication |
| January 2026 | 670 | Revised after first publication |
| February 2026 | 608 | Revised after first publication |
| April 2026 | 623 | Revised after first publication |
| May 2026 | 721 | As first published |
| June 2026 | 660 | As first published |
Online job adverts observed in an ONS-published measure.
More about this figure
This counts adverts, not vacancies and not positions that exist. ONS recorded roughly 66 percent more adverts than official Vacancy Survey vacancies for the same month. No value was published for 2026-03, so that month is absent from the figures below rather than shown as zero. The published series runs from 2017-01 but only 2024-05 to 2026-06 is shown, because ONS documents changes in which sources it collected from outside that stretch and a difference across one of those is partly a change in the collection.
Where this figure comes from
- Measure
- The number of new online job adverts ONS observed for this occupation in the period. Adverts, deduplicated upstream by ONS, not vacancies and not positions.
- Source
- ONS, Online job advert volumes by occupation (OGL v3.0)
- Evidence period
- May 2025
- Geography
- Total UK
- Occupation grain
- SOC 2020 unit group, the most detailed
- Comparability
- Comparable
- Limitation
- Online job adverts observed in an ONS-published measure. This counts adverts, not vacancies and not positions that exist. ONS recorded roughly 66 percent more adverts than official Vacancy Survey vacancies for the same month. No value was published for 2026-03, so that month is absent from the figures below rather than shown as zero. The published series runs from 2017-01 but only 2024-05 to 2026-06 is shown, because ONS documents changes in which sources it collected from outside that stretch and a difference across one of those is partly a change in the collection.
- Last read by this site
- 21 August 2026 When this site last loaded the source, not when the evidence was published.
- Source edition
- src_046_ons_labour_demand_volumes_soc2020@2026-07-23#f1fff167d0a0
- Publisher last saved this file
- 23 July 2026 The date the file was last saved by its publisher, which is not the same as the date it was released. The evidence period above is what the figure describes.
Requirements in adverts
Evidence period: 2025, not yet complete
2025 is not yet covered in full, so these shares sit on a shorter window than the years before them.
A reliable comparison is not available for these periods. Comparability: Not established
The publisher breaks requirements down by occupation for 2025 only; earlier years in the same release cover the whole economy and carry no occupation, so there is no earlier figure for this occupation to compare with.
The share of new online job adverts mentioning this requirement, not a count.
More about this figure
The taxonomy is Textkernel's SCO, which is not SOC.
Where this figure comes from
- Measure
- The proportion of new online job adverts for this occupation that mentioned this requirement. A share of adverts, not a count of jobs.
- Source
- ONS, Skills, competencies and job requirements in online adverts (OGL v3.0)
- Evidence period
- 2025 (not yet complete)
- Geography
- United Kingdom
- Occupation grain
- SOC 2020 unit group, the most detailed
- Comparability
- Not applicable, this figure is a single observation, not a comparison.
- Limitation
- The share of new online job adverts mentioning this requirement, not a count. The taxonomy is Textkernel's SCO, which is not SOC.
- Last read by this site
- 21 August 2026 When this site last loaded the source, not when the evidence was published.
- Source edition
- src_048_ons_skills_competencies_job_requirements@2025-12-08#e0d4e60d4114
- Publisher last saved this file
- 8 December 2025 The date the file was last saved by its publisher, which is not the same as the date it was released. The evidence period above is what the figure describes.
Where the adverts were placed
Evidence period: June 2026
Adverts by region, with each region's share of the 656 placed across the 12 published regions.
- London
- 99 adverts (15.1%)
- South East
- 87 adverts (13.3%)
- North West
- 82 adverts (12.5%)
- East of England
- 77 adverts (11.7%)
- Yorkshire and The Humber
- 66 adverts (10.1%)
- West Midlands
- 62 adverts (9.5%)
- South West
- 43 adverts (6.6%)
- East Midlands
- 43 adverts (6.6%)
- Scotland
- 36 adverts (5.5%)
- North East
- 29 adverts (4.4%)
- Wales
- 17 adverts (2.6%)
- Northern Ireland
- 15 adverts (2.3%)
How this compares with a year earlier
- East Midlands
- 63 in June 2025, 43 in June 2026
- East of England
- 58 in June 2025, 77 in June 2026
- London
- 128 in June 2025, 99 in June 2026
- North East
- 27 in June 2025, 29 in June 2026
- North West
- 87 in June 2025, 82 in June 2026
- Northern Ireland
- 7 in June 2025, 15 in June 2026
- Scotland
- 54 in June 2025, 36 in June 2026
- South East
- 80 in June 2025, 87 in June 2026
- South West
- 65 in June 2025, 43 in June 2026
- Wales
- 19 in June 2025, 17 in June 2026
- West Midlands
- 78 in June 2025, 62 in June 2026
- Yorkshire and The Humber
- 62 in June 2025, 66 in June 2026
Online job adverts observed in an ONS-published measure.
More about this figure
This counts adverts, not vacancies and not positions that exist. ONS recorded roughly 66 percent more adverts than official Vacancy Survey vacancies for the same month. Adverts are counted against the location stated in the advert, which is not necessarily where the work happens. These are the two counts ONS published for this region, and a difference between two published counts is not a rate of change. Regions are published separately from the UK figure and do not sum to it, so a regional movement is not a share of a national one.
Adverts are counted against the location stated in the advert, which is not necessarily where the work happens: a remote or hybrid role advertised from a head office counts to that office's region.
More about this figure
Regions are published separately from the UK figure and do not sum to it — these 12 regions total 656 against a UK figure of 660.
Where this figure comes from
- Measure
- The number of new online job adverts ONS observed for this occupation in the period. Adverts, deduplicated upstream by ONS, not vacancies and not positions.
- Source
- ONS, Online job advert volumes by occupation (OGL v3.0)
- Evidence period
- June 2026
- Geography
- London
- Occupation grain
- SOC 2020 unit group, the most detailed
- Comparability
- Not applicable, this figure is a single observation, not a comparison.
- Limitation
- Adverts are counted against the location stated in the advert, which is not necessarily where the work happens: a remote or hybrid role advertised from a head office counts to that office's region. Regions are published separately from the UK figure and do not sum to it — these 12 regions total 656 against a UK figure of 660.
- Last read by this site
- 21 August 2026 When this site last loaded the source, not when the evidence was published.
- Source edition
- src_046_ons_labour_demand_volumes_soc2020@2026-07-23#f1fff167d0a0
- Publisher last saved this file
- 23 July 2026 The date the file was last saved by its publisher, which is not the same as the date it was released. The evidence period above is what the figure describes.
Official vacancy context
Evidence period: June 2026
For context, the official Vacancy Survey estimated 712 thousand vacancies across all industries in June 2026. This measures vacancies, not adverts.
Official Vacancy Survey estimate.
More about this figure
This measures vacancies, unlike the advert measures beside it, and the two must not be combined.
Where this figure comes from
- Measure
- The official ONS Vacancy Survey estimate of vacancies across all industries. A survey of employers, measuring vacancies rather than adverts.
- Source
- ONS, Vacancy Survey, VACS02 (OGL v3.0)
- Evidence period
- June 2026
- Geography
- United Kingdom
- Occupation grain
- None, this figure covers all industries, not this occupation.
- Comparability
- Not applicable, this figure is a single observation, not a comparison.
- Limitation
- Official Vacancy Survey estimate. This measures vacancies, unlike the advert measures beside it, and the two must not be combined.
- Last read by this site
- 21 August 2026 When this site last loaded the source, not when the evidence was published.
- Source edition
- src_050_ons_vacancy_survey_vacs02@2026-07-16#3edbbd56a990
- Publisher last saved this file
- 16 July 2026 The date the file was last saved by its publisher, which is not the same as the date it was released. The evidence period above is what the figure describes.
Job titles in this occupation
SOC 2020 coding index, the official classification
60 of the 827 job titles the official SOC 2020 index codes into this occupation, in alphabetical order. This is how the classification assigns a title, not a measure of which titles employers use or how often they appear.
- Acetate maker
- Acetate spinner
- Acetone recoverer
- Acetylene generator
- Acid boiler
- Acid burnerman
- Acid maker
- Acid manalso in other occupations
- Acid mixer
- Acid pan man
- Acid plant attendant
- Acid plant hand
- Acid workeralso in other occupations
- Acidifier
- Ammonia plant attendant
- Ammonium chloride maker
- Ammunition maker
- Annealer (chemicals)also in other occupations
- Armature impregnator
- Artificial silk spinner
- Asbestos pipe maker
- Asbestos sheet cutter
- Asbestos trimmer
- Attendant (gas works)also in other occupations
- Autoclave operator (asbestos composition goods mfr)also in other occupations
- Autoclave operator (chemical mfr)also in other occupations
- Autoclave worker (aluminium refining)
- Ball mill operator (chemical mfr)also in other occupations
- Band saw operator (asbestos goods mfr)also in other occupations
- Bander (textile mfr: textile bleaching, dyeing)also in other occupations
- Barium furnaceman
- Batch blender
- Batch mixer (chemical mfr)also in other occupations
- Bater
- Beam dyer
- Beaterman (celluloid mfr)also in other occupations
- Belly roller
- Bench hand (chemical mfr)also in other occupations
- Bench man (chemical mfr)also in other occupations
- Bend roller (tannery)
- Benzol operator
- Benzol plant man
- Benzol plant operator
- Benzol washer
- Benzole operator
- Benzole plant man
- Benzole plant operator
- Benzole washer
- Bitumen worker
- Black dyer (textile mfr)
- Bleach hand (textile mfr)
- Bleach mixer (paper)
- Bleach worker (textile mfr)
- Bleacher (feather)also in other occupations
- Bleacher (oil)also in other occupations
- Bleacher (textiles)also in other occupations
- Bleacher and dyer
- Blenderalso in other occupations
- Boiler (chemicals)also in other occupations
- Boilerman (gelatine, glue, size mfr)also in other occupations
Titles marked as shared also code into other occupations. Where the index gives a qualifier, it is shown in brackets, because that qualifier is what places the title here.
Official occupation context
SOC 2020, the official classification
How SOC 2020 places this occupation, from the broadest group down. This is the official classification, not evidence from job adverts, and it does not change when advertising does.
- Major group Process, plant and machine operatives 8
- Sub-major group Process, plant, machine and construction operatives 81
- Minor group Process Operatives 811
- Unit group Chemical and related process operatives 8113
Related occupations worth exploring
SOC 2020, the same minor group
The official classification files this occupation under “Process Operatives”. These are the others in it that have published evidence, a starting point for looking, not a suggestion that the work transfers between them.
Occupations by advertised salary
Evidence period: May 2025
£30,000 – £40,000
144 occupations stated a median in this range in May 2025.
- Advertising accounts managers and creative directors £40,000
- Advertising and marketing associate professionals £30,000
- Agricultural and fishing trades n.e.c. £31,200
- Archivists, conservators and curators £33,000
- Artists £32,000
- Arts officers, producers and directors £30,600
- Assemblers (vehicles and metal goods) £31,300
- Authors, writers and translators £35,700
- Barristers and judges £38,800
- Boat and ship builders and repairers £37,500
- Book-keepers, payroll managers and wages clerks £30,000
- Brokers £35,000
- Building and civil engineering technicians £35,000
- Business and related research professionals £36,500
- Business associate professionals n.e.c. £36,400
- Business sales executives £32,000
- Buyers and procurement officers £37,700
- CAD, drawing and architectural technicians £37,000
- Careers advisers and vocational guidance specialists £36,400
- Chartered architectural technologists, planning officers and consultants £40,000
- Chefs £30,200
- Chemical and related process operatives £37,700
- Chemical scientists £32,700
- Child and early years officers £35,000
- Clothing, fashion and accessories designers £30,000
- Collector salespersons and credit agents £39,000
- Communication operators £30,600
- Complementary health associate professionals £30,100
- Conservation professionals £34,400
- Construction and building trades supervisors £40,000
- Counsellors £31,500
- Customer service managers £36,000
- Data analysts £40,000
- Database administrators and web content technicians £32,000
- Design occupations n.e.c. £40,000
- Dispensing opticians £31,000
- Early education and childcare services managers £34,000
- Education advisers and school inspectors £39,500
- Electrical and electronic trades n.e.c. £37,000
- Electrical and electronics technicians £38,600
- Electrical service and maintenance mechanics and repairers £40,000
- Elementary construction occupations n.e.c. £30,200
- Elementary process plant occupations n.e.c. £30,200
- Elementary storage occupations n.e.c. £31,300
- Energy plant operatives £30,300
- Estate agents and auctioneers £36,500
- Events managers and organisers £30,000
- Farmers £35,000
- Fire service officers (watch manager and below) £38,000
- Fitness and wellbeing instructors £35,800
- Footwear and leather working trades £34,500
- Forestry and related workers £31,200
- Furniture makers and other craft woodworkers £32,500
- Glaziers, window fabricators and fitters £35,000
- Graphic and multimedia designers £34,400
- Groundworkers £39,000
- Hairdressing and beauty salon managers and proprietors £32,000
- Health associate professionals n.e.c. £35,000
- Health care practice managers £35,000
- Heavy and large goods vehicle drivers £35,400
Showing 60 of 144. Narrow the range to see the rest.
Advertised salary is what adverts stated, for the adverts that named a figure at all. It is not what the work pays.
Evidence periods
Each measure below is published on its own schedule, so they do not all describe the same moment.
- Online advert demand
- June 2026
- How advert demand has changed
- June 2026
- Where the adverts were placed
- June 2026
- Advertised salary
- May 2025
- How advertised salary has changed
- May 2025
- Requirements in adverts
- 2025period not yet complete
- Official vacancy context
- June 2026
What this page cannot tell you
- How many jobs are available. These are counts of online adverts in published statistics, and one advert can be several positions, a speculative opportunity or a training route.
- Which employers are advertising, or any individual advert.
- What anyone is paid. Advertised salary is not pay.
- Whether an occupation is a good choice for you.