Forklift operator jobs in Southampton

Forklift work is counted inside warehousing and storage, which comes to 500 employee jobs in Southampton, from 114,000 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 2.11% of employment in Southampton.

Median full-time pay in Southampton was £39,464 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 25 warehousing and storage sites in Southampton at the March 2025 reference date, 10 of them employing ten people or more. Business counts are rounded one cell at a time, so the bands sit loosely against the total. 20 of them, 80%, employ under ten, below the usual share, so there is more reach, VNA and bendi work here than a small-site area carries.

Of the warehousing and storage employee jobs the 2024 survey splits by hours in Southampton, 50 are part time, 10% of the split. The middle across the South East is 13%, so Southampton sits below it, 16th of 19 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 Southampton picture: 1,250 employee jobs in freight transport by road, and 650 employee jobs in postal and courier activities.

Measured on employee jobs across freight, warehousing and courier work, Southampton ranks 10th of the 19 areas in the South East. The middle across the South East is 2,400, against 2,400 in Southampton. Across the 153 areas in England the middle is 2,975. Next to Southampton in that order sit Reading at 3,025 and Medway at 2,250.

On the separate business register count of warehousing and storage sites, Southampton ranks 11th of the 19 areas in the South East. The middle across the South East is 25, against 25 in Southampton. Across the 153 areas in England the middle is 35. Next to Southampton in that order sit Medway at 25 and Portsmouth at 20.

None of these counts is a vacancy figure. They describe 500 jobs across 25 warehousing sites as the surveys found them in Southampton, and the live list above is what is open now.