Metalwork and welding

O*NET defines welders, cutters, solderers and brazers as workers who use hand-welding, flame-cutting, hand-soldering or brazing equipment to weld or join metal components or to fill holes, indentations or seams of fabricated metal products. Sheet metal workers, who fabricate, assemble and install sheet-metal products, share the trade with HVAC.

The welder’s core tasks include examining workpieces for defects, measuring with straightedges or templates, and welding in flat, vertical or overhead positions. O*NET records 141 tool commodities for welders and 165 for sheet metal workers. Welding processes are distinguished by how they protect the molten metal from air (a flux coating, a shielding gas, or a gas flame), and the archive documents each process as its own machine.

O*NET OnLine, the occupational database of the US Department of Labor, reports for Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers (51-4121.00), 437,700 people in 2025, a median wage of $25.84 an hour ($53,750 a year), projected growth for 2025–2035 described as slower than average (1% to 2%), and 40,300 projected job openings; for Sheet Metal Workers (47-2211.00), 131,100 people in 2025, a median wage of $29.71 an hour ($61,800 a year), projected growth for 2025–2035 described as average (3% to 4%), and 9,800 projected job openings.