Logging workers harvest thousands of acres of forests each year. The timber they harvest provides the raw material for many consumer goods and industrial products.

Logging is physically demanding and can be dangerous. Workers spend all their time outdoors, sometimes in poor weather and often in isolated areas.

Most logging workers have a high school diploma. They get on-the-job training to become familiar with forest environments and to learn how to operate logging machinery.

Employment of logging workers is projected to decline 4 percent from 2014 to 2024. However, there will be a need to replace workers who retire or leave the occupation permanently.

This occupation supported 43,800 jobs in 2012 and 53,700 jobs in 2014, reflecting an increase of 22.6%. In 2012, this occupation was projected to decrease by 8.4% in 2022 to 40,099 jobs. As of 2014, to keep pace with prediction, the expected number of jobs was 43,000, compared with an observed value of 53,700, 24.9% higher than expected. This indicates current employment trends are much better than the 2012 trend within this occupation. In 2014, this occupation was projected to decrease by 4.6% in 2024 to 51,700 jobs. Linear extrapolation of the 2012 projection for 2022 results in an expected number of 39,300 jobs for 2024, 24.0% lower than the 2014 projection for 2024. This indicates expectations for future employment trends are much better than the 2012 trend within this occupation.