Welder
Also called fitter, gas welder, arc welder
Welders operate welding equipment in order to join metal workpieces together. They can use fusion welding processes based on different techniques and materials. They also perform simple visual inspection of welds.
What you'd do
Welders and flame cutters · ILO- Welding metal parts using gas flame, or an electric arc, thermite compound or other methods
- Operating resistance-welding machines
- Using blowtorch to make and repair lead linings, pipes, floors and other lead fixtures
- Brazing metal parts together
- Cutting metal pieces using gas flame or an electric arc
- Joining metal parts by hand soldering
- Monitoring the fitting, burning, and welding processes to avoid overheating of parts or warping, shrinking, distortion or expansion of material
- Examining work pieces for defects and measuring work pieces with straight edges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications
- A mix of sitting and standing
- Lots of contact with people, mostly with colleagues
- Some freedom to decide
- Usually 40 hours a week
- Deadlines every day
- Some repetitive tasks
Will there be jobs?
Yes, good prospects21 EU countries are short of welders and flame cutters 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 0.13 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).
See the score for each of the 8 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 welders and flame cutters. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).