Wooden furniture machine operator
Also called wood furniture machinist, timber furniture machinist, wooden furniture machinist
Wooden furniture machine operators run machines that manufacture wooden furniture parts, according to the established operating procedure. They ensure the machine works smoothly and repair parts if necessary.
What you'd do
Woodworking machine tool setters and operators · ILO- Setting-up, programming, operating and monitoring several types of woodworking machines for sawing, shaping, boring, drilling, planing, pressing, turning, sanding or carving to fabricate or repair wooden parts for furniture, fixtures and other wooden products
- Operating preset special-purpose woodworking machines to fabricate wooden products such as coat hangers, mop handles, clothes pins and other products
- Selecting knives, saws, blades, cutter heads, cams, bits or belts according to work piece, machine functions and product specifications
- Installing and adjusting blades, cutter heads, boring-bits and sanding-belts, and using hand tools and rules
- Setting and adjusting various kinds of woodworking machines for operation by others
- Reading and interpreting specifications or following verbal instructions
- On your feet most of the day
- Lots of contact with people
- Some freedom to decide
- Usually 40 hours a week
- Deadlines most weeks
- Some repetitive tasks
Will there be jobs?
Yes, good prospects11 EU countries are short of woodworking machine tool setters and operators now, but fewer jobs than in most work will need filling by 2035.
Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.
What does it pay?
Below averagePay depends a lot on the country: from about €1,000 a month (Bulgaria) to €4,800 (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 materials (glass, paper, plastic and wood) 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 take on part of some tasks, but none fully.
Average task score 0.22 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).
See the score for each of the 6 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 woodworking machine tool setters and operators. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).