Is a forklift driver a good job for working in europe?

9 comments

1. I drove a forklift briefly in the 1970s. It was a dead easy job that required no training beyond pointing out what the levers did. Is there really a kind of forklift driving that requires a specialist certificate?

   Excavators are going to be different, you’ll often be in hazardous situations.

2. All forklift drivers I know at work are not just forklift drivers. Using/driving a forklift is just part of their job; its a qualification for what they do but its not the only thing they do. The rest are other logistics tasks.

   It’s a bit different for the construction industry tho. But I don’t know enough about that to give a clear answer.

   All I know is that it’s not a high paid job either way. The pay rises, the more different/bigger/more complicated vehicles and machines you’re qualified to operate.

3. You need a special license to be allowed to operate a forklift or reach truck so having one of those is definitely a plus on your resume.

   The median salary is about 2430 euro/mo which to be honest doesn’t seem like a whole lot; the general median salary for blue collar workers in Belgium is about 2900 euro/mo).

   Forklifts and reach trucks are of course mostly used in logistics and warehousing so I’m not sure if there’s any growing potential there, either.

4. Usually excavator operator is a whole different career

   getting certified as forklift driver isn’t a huge thing, but operating one is usually a part of being a warehouse worker. But like two my coworkers have also one, so we can move the things which are to heavy for the pallet trucks in the workshop ourselves and don’t have to call somobody else.

   There are Excavator courses, but much longer (40-50h)and usually thought as option for construction workers.

5. You’d earn more as an excavator operator, nearly anybody in their first logistics job can ride a fork lift (you’d sometimes require an easy to get certificate).

   You’d work in a warehouse or on a dock and occasionally drive a fork lift. Near minimum wage.

6. UK – typically pays more than minimum wage, but generally not much as there isn’t much of a barrier to entry. That being said, most people I know just use a forklift as part of their job rather than being employed specifically as a forklift driver, so their wages are generally higher again.

   Excavators etc – separate training course, the forklift ticket wouldn’t cover it. Generally higher paid.

7. It’s not exactly a technically skilled job. Everybody and their mother can learn to drive a forklift, it’s just a course of a few hours and then you’re good to go. It’s common for employers to offer the opportunity to get the certificate to warehouse staff so they’re more versatile and can switch between the regular warehouse tasks and the tasks that require a forklift. It’s not a stepping stone to driving other machinery, it’s not a skill that’s going to make you particularly in demand. If you want to learn how to drive an excavator then go do that and don’t waste your time on being a poorly paid warehouse employee.

8. I worked in Auchan for the minimum wage and some people working there could operate a forklift driver. It was just a part of their job. So in this case it’s a completely shitty job.

   You can be a warehouse worker and earn a bit more. The average salary of a forklift operator in 2023 is 4690zł when the general average salary is 7485,12 zł. The minimum wage is 3600 zł now. (All the values are before subtracting the tax). So it’s still a bad job.

9. I can’t waste this opportunity to recommend watching [Staplerfahrer Klaus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJdCJMyBi5I)

   It’s a wonderful splatter parody on work safety films. You don’t have to understand any German at all. The plot is simple: Forklift driver Klaus has his first day on the job and makes about any mistake you can make, while the narrator points out these security rules. In German a little comedic addition is the well-known voice of the narrator – it was the same who was the voice over for (real) driving safety TV advice, so giving this splatter movie another nice touch.