Concrete Worker / Steel Fixer
🧱Ties rebar cages, builds formwork, receives and places concrete, compacts and cures it. The frame of every building grows out of this work.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $54.8k a year on average
Cement masons, concrete finishers, & terrazzo workers — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £32.6k median a year · 66,000 jobs
Construction operatives n.e.c. — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
Rebar-tying robots and concrete 3D printing are emerging, but ordinary sites will need concrete workers' hands for a long time.
Who it suits
Interests: 🏗️ Building and spaces, 🔧 Making things by hand.
Key strengths: strength and stamina, manual dexterity.
Where to study
- Apprenticeship Steel fixer / formworker apprenticeship and CSCS card (UK), Beton- und Stahlbetonbauer Ausbildung (DE)
- Apprenticeship Union apprenticeship (US Ironworkers, Cement Masons)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Maths, Physics, PE.
🧗 Through apprenticeship: a 3-year Beton- und Stahlbetonbauer Ausbildung in Germany, a steel fixer or formworker apprenticeship plus CSCS card in the UK, a paid union apprenticeship in the US. Foremen earn well.
Things to know
🛢️ Dirt, noise, smells🧗 Working at heights
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