Workers

Workers are the population assigned to workplace buildings and flags that perform the in-game tasks required for a functioning colony. The user interface displays counts for active workers, available (vacant) job slots, and unemployed population separately for Beavers and Bots. Certain beavers are unemployable: kits (too young), adults with unmet basic needs, and contaminated beavers; these do not take jobs or appear as workers.

Each workplace belongs to a job category that defines the tasks and behaviour of its workers. Production-style jobs execute fully inside their building, consuming inputs and producing outputs (for example: Smelter, Gristmill, Bakery, Mines, Power Wheels, Observatory, Bot Assembler). Gathering jobs harvest renewable resources without destroying the source (Gatherer Flag, Tapper’s Shack); Lumberjacks and Scavengers are separate categories with their own behaviours. Forestry (Forester) plants trees and bushes within its range. Farming (Farmhouse variants and Hydroponic Garden) both plants and harvests crops. Scavengers gather scrap from surface Ruins while Miners extract metal from Underground Ruins. Construction workers fetch and place materials at Construction Sites and clear rubble. Haulers and Crossing workers move goods between storage, production, consumers, construction sites, and between Districts. Wonder buildings are staffed by workers who fetch missing goods or stand idle at the entrance; Pilots assigned to the Earth Repopulator are removed from the local population when it launches.

Workers are productive only when their basic needs are satisfied and their workplace has required inputs, free output space for another production run, and access to power if the building requires it. When a workplace lacks input goods, workers will fetch a load from the nearest source (storage or a producing building). When output inventory is full, workers attempt to empty it by carrying goods to appropriate storage. Workers that cannot be productive will idle inside the building, usually near the entrance; time spent moving goods or idling reduces the building’s efficiency.

Unemployed population are capable of working but there are no job vacancies for them to fill. Unemployed beavers will perform certain tasks such as emptying warehouses flagged to be emptied, moving full inventories to regular storage, and (for Iron Teeth) tending Breeding Pods. They do not move rubble into storage, relocate items between warehouses (except when emptying a warehouse), move items to queued buildings, or move items from storage to inventories.

Practical notes for managing workers and maximizing efficiency:

• Provide nearby storage for both inputs and outputs so workers spend minimal time hauling goods themselves. Haulers should be added to offload long-distance transport duties and keep production workers at their tasks.
• Ensure workplaces have continuous access to required power and that output inventories have capacity for another production run to avoid stalls.
• Place foresters and gatherers so their sources lie well within the building’s operational range; gatherers do not need paths to reach resources but do operate only within that radius.
• Monitor job vacancy counts and unemployed counts in the UI to decide whether to build more workplaces, add housing, or reduce population growth.
• Pause or demolish gathering/scavenging/harvesting flags and buildings that show “Nothing to do in range” to free workers for other jobs.
• Use District size and mass transit thoughtfully: haulers and crossing workers are more efficient in smaller districts or where travel times are reduced.
• Keep basic needs (food, water, rest, sanitation, etc.) met for adults to prevent them becoming unemployable and to maintain high workforce availability.