Boilermaker
Also called plater, boiler smith, boiler mender
Boilermakers operate a variety of equipment and machinery to create, repipe and retube hot water and steam boilers, producing them in all steps of the production process. They cut, gouge and shape the metal sheets and tubes for the boilers to size, using oxy-acetylene gas torches, assemble them by shielded metal arc welding, gas metal arc welding or gas tungsten arc welding, and finish them by the appropriate machine tools, power tools and coating.
What you'd do
Sheet metal workers · ILO- Marking sheet metal for cutting and shaping
- Making and repairing household utensils and other articles in tin, copper and light alloys, or ornamental articles and fittings
- Making and repairing boilers, tanks, vats and similar containers
- Installing and repairing sheet-metal parts of vehicles and aircraft
- Converting blueprints into shop drawings to be followed in the construction and assembly of sheet metal products
- Determining project requirements, including scope, assembly sequences, and required methods and materials, according to blueprints, drawings, and written or verbal instructions
- Inspecting product quality and installation to ensure conformance to specifications
- Indoors and outdoors
- On your feet most of the day
- Constant contact with people, including the public
- Good freedom to decide
- Often more than 40 hours a week
- Deadlines most weeks
- Some repetitive tasks
Will there be jobs?
Yes, good prospects18 EU countries are short of sheet metal workers now, but fewer jobs than in most work will need filling by 2035.
Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.
What does it pay?
About averagePay depends a lot on the country: from about €1,200 a month (Bulgaria) to €5,100 (Denmark), before tax.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see typical pay there, for people under 30, and compared with all jobs.
Among craft and related trades workers in the EU, women earn 26% less per hour than men. Craft and related trades workers · Eurostat
What do I need to study?
Upper secondary or vocationalUpper secondary or vocational training in mechanics and metal trades is the usual route.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see where to study and the official course finders.
Will AI change it?
Very littleAI could help with only small parts of the tasks.
Average task score 0.21 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).
See the score for each of the 7 tasks
Based on what AI could technically do when assessed in 2025. It is not a forecast for a future year, and not a forecast of job losses. Scores for sheet metal workers. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).