veneer grader
Veneer graders inspect slices of veneer for quality. They look for irregularities, blemishes and production errors, and grade the slices for the desirability of the patterns.
veneer grader veneer graders inspect slices of veneer for quality. They look for irregularities, blemishes and production errors, and grade the slices for the desirability of the patterns. 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 quality standards, quality assurance methodologies, types of wood, types of veneers, record test data.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £34,360 a year for Routine inspectors and testers (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £28,338 to £43,307 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 8143). ONS rates this estimate 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 “Craft and related trades workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only veneer grader, 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 7. 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
Knowledge you'll build
- Production and Processing
- Mathematics
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- Mechanical
- Education and Training
- Transportation
- English Language
What you'd actually do
- Evaluate log characteristics and determine grades, using established criteria.
- Record data about individual trees or load volumes into tally books or hand-held collection terminals.
- Measure felled logs or loads of pulpwood to calculate volume, weight, dimensions, and marketable value, using measuring devices and conversion tables.
- Paint identification marks of specified colors on logs to identify grades or species, using spray cans, or call out grades to log markers.
- Jab logs with metal ends of scale sticks, and inspect logs to ascertain characteristics or defects such as water damage, splits, knots, broken ends, rotten areas, twists, and curves.
- Identify logs of substandard or special grade so that they can be returned to shippers, regraded, recut, or transferred for other processing.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does veneer grader do?
Veneer graders inspect slices of veneer for quality. They look for irregularities, blemishes and production errors, and grade the slices for the desirability of the patterns.
What skills does veneer grader need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include quality standards, quality assurance methodologies, types of wood, types of veneers, record test data, monitor manufacturing quality standards. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace veneer grader?
Our AI-durability model gives veneer grader 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.