How to become a carpenter or joiner

Official title: Carpenters and joiners

Also called: Carpenter, Door installer, Finish carpenter, Framer, Joiner, Shipwright (wood)

Carpenters and joiners cut, shape, assemble, erect, maintain and repair various types of structures and fittings made from wood and other materials.

Main tasks

• Making, altering and repairing structural and other woodwork at a workbench or on a construction site
• Constructing, erecting and installing heavy-framed wooden structures on building sites
• Fitting, assembling and altering internal and external fixtures of buildings, such as walls, doors, door and window frames, facings and panelling
• Making, repairing and fitting scenic equipment for theatrical performances and motion picture or television productions
• Constructing, assembling, altering and repairing wooden fixtures and fittings in train coaches, aircraft, ships, boats, floats and other vehicles

Ways in

• Apprenticeship: Carpenter/Joiner. Carpenter/Joiner (木工) is a designated trade under the Apprenticeship Ordinance (Cap. 47); the period of apprenticeship is 3 years (Cap. 47C). Apprentices sign a registered contract with an employer.
• Licence or registration: Registering body: Construction Industry Council. Law: Construction Workers Registration Ordinance (建造業工人註冊條例), Cap. 583. Summary by Peernovo; check the body's current rules.

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Median pay: HK$21,000 a month
• About 387,500 people in 2025, and about 403,200 projected by 2028. (+4.1%)
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Related jobs

• Concrete placers, concrete finishers and related workers
• House builders
• Building frame and related trades workers not elsewhere classified
• Bricklayers and related workers
• Stonemasons, stone cutters, splitters and carvers

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Questions people ask

How do I become a carpenter or joiner?

Ways in include: Carpenter/Joiner.

Do you need a degree to become a carpenter or joiner?

Usually not. Only 4% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Ways in include: Carpenter/Joiner.

Will AI change the work of a carpenter or joiner?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Census and Statistics Department: Average daily wages of workers engaged in public sector construction projects, 39 trades (Table 220-20001) (Monthly, 2021 series, 2026-07), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026