Communication operators: pay and what the work involves

Occupation 7213 · Sales and customer service occupations

Communication operators

Communication operators operate telecoms equipment to transmit and receive signals and messages.

How people enter it

Academic qualifications may not be required. On-the-job training is provided.

What the work involves

receives messages, weather reports and other material to transmit
tunes transmitter to required channel or wavelength and relays or receives message to/ from person or vehicle
uses a teleprinter or telex keyboard to transmit messages to other teleprinters or telexes
keeps record of messages sent and received
performs routine tests and maintenance on equipment and reports faults
receives and handles incoming calls for emergency services, transmitting to the appropriate services

Also called

Call handler (emergency services) · Communications officer · Control room operator (emergency services) · Controller (taxi service) · Emergency medical despatcher · Radio operator

What it pays

Measure	Hours	Basis	Period	Value	Source
7213 : Communication operators	None	None	2026-03	34,500.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
7213 : Communication operators	None	None	2026-03	35,900.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
7213 : Communication operators	None	None	2026-03	36,800.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
7213 : Communication operators	None	None	2026-03	—	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020) Not published: Estimate is less than 500
7213 : Communication operators	None	None	2026-03	800.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
7213 : Communication operators	None	None	2026-03	37,200.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
7213 : Communication operators	None	None	2026-03	1,500.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Region	Measure	Hours	Value	Period
East	7213 : Communication operators	None	2,500.00	2026-03
East Midlands	7213 : Communication operators	None	5,900.00	2026-03
London	7213 : Communication operators	None	2,300.00	2026-03
North East	7213 : Communication operators	None	1,600.00	2026-03
North West	7213 : Communication operators	None	3,000.00	2026-03
Northern Ireland	7213 : Communication operators	None	withheld	2026-03
Scotland	7213 : Communication operators	None	800.00	2026-03
South East	7213 : Communication operators	None	6,600.00	2026-03
South West	7213 : Communication operators	None	3,200.00	2026-03
Wales	7213 : Communication operators	None	1,500.00	2026-03
West Midlands	7213 : Communication operators	None	4,400.00	2026-03
Yorkshire and The Humber	7213 : Communication operators	None	5,100.00	2026-03

Common questions

Does pay for communication operators vary by region?

ONS publishes regional pay for this occupation where the survey sample supports it — 11 of 12 cells on this page. The rest are withheld by ONS, and are shown as withheld with the reason, rather than left out.

Where do these pay figures come from?

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, published by the Office for National Statistics. Figures are shown exactly as ONS publishes them — we do not adjust, model or fill them in, and every number on this page carries the series and period it came from.

Classified alongside this

Call and contact centre occupations · Customer service occupations n.e.c. · Market research interviewers · Telephonists