Workers

Workers are the population members assigned to workplaces to perform the tasks that keep a Timberborn colony running. A worker is typically a beaver (or a bot when available) that occupies a job slot in a building or flag and carries out the specific behaviour for that job category — for example hauling, gathering, forestry, mining, farming, production, construction, or operating District infrastructure. Workplaces expose a fixed number of worker slots; when staffed they allow the building to fetch inputs, run production cycles, harvest resources, transport goods, build, or otherwise provide their service.

Workers are productive only when their Basic needs are met and their workplace has the required inputs, output space, and power (if the building requires it). When a workplace lacks inputs or output capacity, workers fetch goods from the nearest available source or attempt to empty outputs to storage. When they cannot be productive they idle, usually standing in the building entrance, which reduces the building’s efficiency. Many job types work full-time during configured working hours, taking breaks only to satisfy Basic needs. Examples of job behaviours and slot counts include Haulers at Hauling Posts (10), Reforesters at Foresters (1), Miners at Mines (10), Scavengers at Scavenger Flags (1), Builders at Builders’ Huts or District Centers (4), Farmers at Farmhouses (varying), and many production buildings with one or more worker slots.

Employment and workforce management are shown in the Population Management area of the UI: active workers, vacant building slots, and unemployed population are visible. Some beavers are unemployable: kits (too young to work), adults with certain unmet Basic needs, and contaminated beavers. The unemployed remain available for work but no job vacancies exist; they will perform limited helper tasks such as emptying warehouses set to be emptied, emptying full inventories to regular storage, and (for Iron Teeth) tending Breeding Pods. Unemployed do not move rubble into storage, move items between warehouses (except when emptying), or supply queued buildings.

Working hours default to 16 hours and are adjustable between 0 and 24 hours. Increasing working hours raises productivity but reduces leisure time and can interfere with sleep and other needs, which may lower population well-being and reduce breeding chances for Folktails. Reducing working hours has the opposite effect.

Worker lifecycles and needs influence workforce availability. A beaver’s life expectancy is affected by fulfilled needs; if no need is satisfied a beaver will live for 50 day/night cycles. Vital needs (Basic needs) must be met or the beaver will die; Optional needs are not required but grant positive bonuses when satisfied. Consumption rates and timing affect how often workers break from tasks to eat and drink; observed average daily consumption per beaver is roughly 2–3 units of food or water depending on rounding and replenishment amounts.

Practical notes:

• Provide nearby storage for inputs and outputs, and sufficient haulers, to maximize worker efficiency.
• Place workplaces close to their resource sources or to storage to reduce travel time and idle time.
• Adjust working hours with care: higher hours boost output but can harm needs, sleep, and breeding; lower hours improve well-being but reduce productivity.
• Monitor employment UI to fill vacant slots and identify unemployable beavers (kits, contaminated, or with unmet Basic needs).
• Pause or demolish flags/buildings that report “Nothing to do in range” to free workers or reduce idle staff.