Joiner / Cabinetmaker
🔨Makes furniture, doors, staircases and interiors from wood: from sketch and choice of timber to sanding and finishing. The best pieces are one-off custom work.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $49.4k a year on average · -2.9% jobs by 2035 · 6,900 openings a year
Cabinetmakers & bench carpenters — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £34k median a year · 51,000 jobs
Carpenters and joiners — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
CNC machines have taken over mass joinery, but bespoke furniture, complex interiors and solid-wood work remain a hand craft.
Who it suits
Interests: 🔧 Making things by hand, 🎨 Drawing and design, 🏗️ Building and spaces.
Key strengths: manual dexterity, artistic taste.
Where to study
- Apprenticeship Carpentry and joinery / furniture maker apprenticeship, Level 2–3 (UK)
- Apprenticeship Tischler/in (Ausbildung, DE) → Meister
- Vocational Cabinetmaking / woodworking certificate (US community college)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Maths, Art & Design.
🧗 A 2–3-year apprenticeship in a workshop (Tischler Ausbildung in Germany; own business after the Meister exam), or US college or union training. Bespoke furniture makers earn the most.
Things to know
🛢️ Dirt, noise, smells
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