Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Model makers, wood
Construct full-size and scale wooden precision models of products. Includes wood jig builders and loft workers.
More resilient than most: more resilient than 62% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by -3.3% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on physical dexterity and creative vision.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $56,550
- Job growth to 2035
- -3.3%
- Openings a year
- 100
- People doing it (2025)
- 700
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Measure physical characteristics of materials, products, or equipment
- Communicate with others about operational plans or activities
- Read documents or materials to inform work processes
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Assemble products or work aids
- Shape materials to create products
- Cut materials
What the work looks like
- Read blueprints, drawings, or written specifications, and consult with designers to determine sizes and shapes of patterns and required machine setups.
- Fit, fasten, and assemble wood parts together to form patterns, models, or sections, using glue, nails, dowels, bolts, screws, and other fasteners.
- Verify dimensions and contours of models during hand-forming processes, using templates and measuring devices.
- Trim, smooth, and shape surfaces, and plane, shave, file, scrape, and sand models to attain specified shapes, using hand tools.
- Plan, lay out, and draw outlines of units, sectional patterns, or full-scale mock-ups of products.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Dental laboratory techniciansHuman edge, steady, Index 64, -5.9%
- Furniture finishersHuman edge, steady, Index 65, -3.5%
- UpholsterersHuman edge, steady, Index 63, -2.3%
- Molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plasticHuman edge, growing, Index 96, +5.8%
Also known as: Craftsman, Model Maker, Sample Builder, Sample Maker, Builder, Jig Maker, Model Builder, Product Development Carpenter.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.