How to become a fur and leather preparing machine operator

Official title: Fur and leather preparing machine operators

Also called: Hide dehairing machine operator, Leather staining machine operator, Tanning machine operator

Fur and leather preparing machine operators monitor and operate various machines that prepare leather or treat fur- or wool-bearing pelts. They trim, scrape, clean, tan, buff and dye animal hides, pelts or skins to produce leather stock and finished furs.

Main tasks

• Operating and monitoring machines which remove flesh and fat from hides or pelts to clean and soften them prior to processing
• Operating and monitoring machines which remove long coarse hair from fur pelts, trim hair to even length and dye, stretch and smooth dressed pelts
• Operating and monitoring machines to remove epidermis hair roots, pigment cells and lime salts from the grain side of skin
• Operating and monitoring machines to reduce thickness of hide or skin to uniform size
• Operating and monitoring machines to polish or roughen hides or skins to specified finishes
• Operating and monitoring machines which separate residual wool from skins, or flesh and hair from hides
• Operating and monitoring machines in which hides are split edgeways to form two or more pieces or to give uniform thickness
• Operating and monitoring machines which treat hides and skins in solutions to convert them into leather
• Treating surfaces of leather with oil and operating glazing machines to give glossy finishes to leather
• Operating and monitoring machines which apply dyes and stains to leather

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Median pay: HK$20,000 a month
• About 387,500 people in 2025, and about 403,200 projected by 2028. (+4.1%)
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Related jobs

• Weaving and knitting machine operators
• Shoemaking and related machine operators
• Textile, fur and leather products machine operators not elsewhere classified
• Bleaching, dyeing and fabric cleaning machine operators
• Fibre preparing, spinning and winding machine operators
• Laundry machine operators

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Questions people ask

Do you need a degree to become a fur and leather preparing machine operator?

Usually not. Only 10% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of a fur and leather preparing machine operator?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026