Is arborist work seasonal?

None of the sources below gives a season for tree work as a whole, and they describe different groups of workers. This page sets out what each one says. For pay and openings, see career outlook.

United States: grounds maintenance, the Bureau's group for tree trimmers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics covers tree trimmers and pruners inside its grounds maintenance workers page. The page says most grounds maintenance workers are full time and that schedules vary. It says these workers are busier, or work longer hours, in spring, summer and fall. It also says some jobs are seasonal, and that workers sometimes offer services such as snow removal in winter. The page does not give a share of seasonal jobs, and it does not split the figures for tree trimmers from the rest of the group.

The Bureau's separate logging workers page, a different group, says the work may be seasonal in some regions.

United States: what tree trimmers report about the work week

O*NET publishes survey answers from people in the tree trimmer and pruner occupation, code 37-3013.00. For the work context items it lists, 91 percent answered that the work is outdoors and exposed to all weather conditions every day, and 48 percent answered that they are exposed to very hot or cold temperatures every day. For the duration of a typical work week, 40 percent answered more than 40 hours. The page gives the other answer shares in its own table.

England and New Zealand

The National Careers Service profile for a tree surgeon says the working environment may be outdoors in all weathers, at height, dusty and physically demanding. It lists places of work as parks and gardens, streets, woodland and rail tracks.

Tahatu, the New Zealand government career site, says arborists usually work regular hours and may work extra hours, including nights, and be on call. It says they usually work outside on properties, roadsides, parks and farms, and may work in all weather conditions and at heights.

Side by side

Source	Seasons and hours	Weather
Bureau of Labor Statistics, grounds maintenance	Busier in spring, summer and fall; some jobs seasonal; most full time	Mostly outdoors in all weather conditions
O*NET 37-3013.00	40 percent answered more than 40 hours a week	91 percent answered outdoors in all weather every day
National Careers Service (England)	Not stated	Outdoors in all weathers
Tahatu (New Zealand)	Regular hours, sometimes extra, nights or on call	May work in all weather conditions

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 for the National Careers Service profiles.