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Where process operators work, and why they continue to be important
The process operator is one of the skilled workers who keeps Danish production going. What ends up as medicines, food ingredients, chemicals and building materials has come out of factories where someone must control, monitor and care for the systems. Here we look at where these people work and why the need does not disappear.
The craft exists across industries, and that's one of its strengths: you're not tied to one type of factory. Many work in pharmaceuticals and food ingredient industry, but chemical production, building materials, and supply also employ process operators.
Skilled process operators are typically at low risk for unemployment. That's because production in the industries hiring them is often hard to move abroad, and there's constant need for hands who can run advanced systems stably. It gives good security in the job, but always look at the very current figures for your area before planning a whole career.
Production is becoming increasingly automated, and some fear that operators will disappear. In practice the opposite happens: the more automatic the system is, the more important it is that someone understands it, can set it up correctly and intervene when something goes wrong. Your job shifts from doing things by hand to controlling, monitoring and troubleshooting — but it does not disappear.
New industries are emerging in Denmark – from large-scale pharmaceutical production to facilities linked to green energy and sustainable production. This creates a need for operators who can run modern facilities. The specialization in green energy and production points directly to what many companies will seek in the future.
Because the trade is broad and found in many industries, your journeyman certificate gives you many doors to enter. Want you later to switch from food ingredients to medicinal or from chemistry to supply, you take your basic competencies with you. This makes process operator a flexible choice in a changing job market.
“The more automatic a factory becomes, the more it means there is someone who really understands the plant.”