Shoe & Leather Worker

Explore This Path

Craft unique leather goods with precision and creativity for diverse uses.
Enhance everyday items with skilled leatherwork, impacting fashion and utility.
Blend tradition and innovation in leather crafting for personalized, lasting products.

💰 Earn $36K-$43K

📚 High School Diploma or GED

⏱️ 6–12 MONTH TRAINING

📈 -11.9% JOB GROWTH

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What You’ll Do

Construct, decorate, or repair leather and leather-like products, such as luggage, shoes, and saddles. May use hand tools.

Dye, soak, polish, paint, stamp, stitch, stain, buff, or engrave leather or other materials to obtain desired effects, decorations, or shapes.
Cut out parts, following patterns or outlines, using knives, shears, scissors, or machine presses.
Construct, decorate, or repair leather products according to specifications, using sewing machines, needles and thread, leather lacing, glue, clamps, hand tools, or rivets.
Repair and recondition leather products such as trunks, luggage, shoes, saddles, belts, purses, and baseball gloves.
Align and stitch or glue materials such as fabric, fleece, leather, or wood, to join parts.

Scoop

Minimum Education

High School Diploma or GED

Career Prospects

Risky (Decreasing by 5% or more)

Training Time

6 months to 1 year

Job Openings

800 Annually

Median Earnings

$37,260 in California

$36,020 Nationally

$25K

$50K

$75K

$100K

$125K

$150K

$175K

$200K

$225K

$250K

Best For You If...

YOU Like 💕

Being creative or artistic
Using data or completing tasks
Working with my hands

You are skilled in 💫

Critical Thinking
Monitoring
Operation and Control
Operations Monitoring
Quality Control Analysis
Speaking

You value 🙏

Accomplishing things
Having support
Having freedom

Deep Dive

Shoe & Leather Worker

Explore career pathways, key skills, and what each role has to offer.

Pathways to this Career

Learn about the education and training paths that can lead to this career — and what to expect from each one.

Strategic Employment

Strategic employment provides individuals with valuable work experience, opportunities for professional growth and networking, and exposure to an industry where they may want to pursue advancement.

🎓 Paid Work

⏱️ FINISH IN 1-3 years

Vocational School

A vocational school typically equips students with specialized skills and practical training in specific trades or occupations, enhancing their employability and providing direct pathways to relevant careers.

🎓 Skills-Focused

⏱️ FINISH IN 6 months - 2 years

Workforce Development Program

A workforce development program typically enhances participants' opportunities to succeed in the workforce through employment skill-building, career counseling, connections to employers, and pathways to high-demand and high-wage jobs.

🎓 Skills-Focused

⏱️ FINISH IN 6 months - 2 years

Apprenticeship

An apprenticeship typically offers a combination of hands-on training and classroom instruction, leading to practical skills, industry-specific knowledge, and the potential for long-term employment in a specific trade or profession.

🎓 Paid Work

⏱️ FINISH IN 2-5 years