Forklift operator jobs in Portsmouth

Forklift work is counted inside warehousing and storage, which comes to 1,000 employee jobs in Portsmouth, from 104,000 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 1.49% of employment in Portsmouth.

Median full-time pay in Portsmouth was £38,815 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 20 warehousing and storage sites in Portsmouth at the March 2025 reference date, 10 of them employing ten people or more. 10 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 Portsmouth, 50 are part time, 4.8% of the split. The middle across the South East is 13%, so Portsmouth sits below it, 19th of 19 areas on this measure. Nearly all of the split is full time, which on forklift work generally means a fixed shift rather than cover.

Two further counts round out the Portsmouth picture: 350 employee jobs in freight transport by road, and 195 employee jobs in postal and courier activities.

Measured on employee jobs across freight, warehousing and courier work, Portsmouth ranks 13th of the 19 areas in the South East. The middle across the South East is 2,400, against 1,545 in Portsmouth. Across the 153 areas in England the middle is 2,975. Next to Portsmouth in that order sit West Berkshire at 2,100 and East Sussex at 1,450.

On the separate business register count of warehousing and storage sites, Portsmouth ranks 12th of the 19 areas in the South East. The middle across the South East is 25, against 20 in Portsmouth. Across the 153 areas in England the middle is 35. Next to Portsmouth in that order sit Southampton at 25 and Reading at 20.

None of these counts is a vacancy figure. They describe 1,000 jobs across 20 warehousing sites as the surveys found them in Portsmouth, and the live list above is what is open now.