Forklift operator jobs in County Durham

Forklift work is counted inside warehousing and storage, which comes to 4,000 employee jobs in County Durham, from 188,000 employee jobs across the area.

That count covers whole sites rather than truck types, so counterbalance on the bays, reach in the racking and VNA in the narrow aisles are all inside it, together with the picking most operators also do. Freight, warehousing and courier work together make up 3.98% of employment in County Durham.

Median full-time pay in County Durham was £32,945 a year in 2025 across all occupations combined. Forklift work is not published separately at this level, so treat that as area context and read the rate on the advert.

UK Business Counts recorded 60 warehousing and storage sites in County Durham at the March 2025 reference date, 30 of them employing ten people or more. 30 of them, 50%, employ under ten, well below the usual share. Large sites use the full range of truck types, so a ticket beyond counterbalance is worth more here.

Of the warehousing and storage employee jobs the 2024 survey splits by hours in County Durham, 600 are part time, 14.6% of the split. The middle across the North East is 21.7%, so County Durham sits below it, 11th of 12 areas on this measure. That is a full-time shift pattern with part-time hours around the edges of it.

Two further counts round out the County Durham picture: 3,000 employee jobs in freight transport by road, and 475 employee jobs in postal and courier activities.

Measured on employee jobs across freight, warehousing and courier work, County Durham ranks 1st of the 12 areas in the North East. The middle across the North East is 2,085, against 7,475 in County Durham. Across the 153 areas in England the middle is 2,975. Next to County Durham in that order sit Stockton-on-Tees at 5,110.

On the separate business register count of warehousing and storage sites, County Durham ranks 1st of the 12 areas in the North East. The middle across the North East is 18, against 60 in County Durham. Across the 153 areas in England the middle is 35. Next to County Durham in that order sit Sunderland at 35.

None of these counts is a vacancy figure. They describe 4,000 jobs across 60 warehousing sites as the surveys found them in County Durham, and the live list above is what is open now.