tanner
Tanners program and use tannery drums. They perform the work according to the work instructions, verify the physical and chemical characteristics of the hide, skin, or leather and of the liquid floats, e.g. pH, temperature, chemicals concentration, during the process. They use the drum for washing the hide or skin, removing the hair (not in the case of hides and skins tanned with the hair or wool on), bating, tanning, retanning, dyeing and milling.
tanner tanners program and use tannery drums. They perform the work according to the work instructions, verify the physical and chemical characteristics of the hide, skin, or leather and of the liquid floats, e.g. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include physico-chemical properties of hides and skins, leather chemistry, adapt to changing situations, use communication techniques, apply colouring recipes.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £33,959 a year for Chemical and related process operatives (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £28,813 to £42,542 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 8113). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Plant and machine operators and assemblers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only tanner, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 8. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Frequently asked questions
What does tanner do?
Tanners program and use tannery drums. They perform the work according to the work instructions, verify the physical and chemical characteristics of the hide, skin, or leather and of the liquid floats, e.g. pH, temperature, chemicals concentration, during the process. They use the drum for washing the hide or skin, removing the hair (not in the case of hides and skins tanned with the hair or wool on), bating, tanning, retanning, dyeing and milling.
What skills does tanner need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include physico-chemical properties of hides and skins, leather chemistry, adapt to changing situations, use communication techniques, apply colouring recipes, prepare colour mixtures. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace tanner?
Our AI-durability model gives tanner a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.