Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Shoe and leather workers and repairers
Construct, decorate, or repair leather and leather-like products, such as luggage, shoes, and saddles. May use hand tools.
In the middle of the pack: more resilient than 54% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is very low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by -6.5% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on physical dexterity.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $37,800
- Job growth to 2035
- -6.5%
- Openings a year
- 1,000
- People doing it (2025)
- 10,300
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Create decorative objects or parts of objects
- Inspect characteristics or conditions of materials or products
- Determine values or prices of goods or services
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Sew garments or materials
- Cut materials
- Assemble products or work aids
What the work looks like
- Prepare inserts, heel pads, and lifts from casts of customers' feet.
- Dress and otherwise finish boots or shoes, as by trimming the edges of new soles and heels to the shoe shape.
- Attach insoles to shoe lasts, affix shoe uppers, and apply heels and outsoles.
- Clean and polish shoes.
- Cement, nail, or sew soles and heels to shoes.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as affordable footwear and fast fashion trends result in more consumers choosing to replace their shoes rather than repair them.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Semiconductor processing techniciansHuman edge, growing, Index 87, +8.2%
- Fiberglass laminators and fabricatorsHuman edge, growing, Index 86, +4.6%
- Etchers and engraversHuman edge, steady, Index 60, -0.7%
- Farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouseHuman edge, steady, Index 59, -2.4%
Also known as: Boot Maker, Cobbler, Shoe Maker, Shoe Repairer, Leather Worker, Saddle and Harness Maker, Shoe Cutter, Shoe Repairman.
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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.