How to become a potter or related worker

Official title: Potters and related workers

Also called: Abrasive wheel moulder, Brick and tile moulder, Potter, Pottery and porcelain caster, Pottery and porcelain modeller

Potters and related workers prepare pottery, porcelain ware, sanitary ware, bricks, tiles and abrasive wheels by hand or by machine.

Main tasks

• Making articles of pottery and porcelain
• Making clay or plaster-of-paris moulds
• Reading technical drawings to know customer’s requirements
• Forming articles on the potter’s wheel by pressing thumbs into centres of revolving clay to form hollows, and pressing on the inside and outside of emerging clay cylinders with hands and fingers, gradually raising and shaping clay to desired forms and sizes
• Adjusting wheel speeds according to the feel of the clay as pieces enlarge and walls become thinner
• Operating jigger machines to form ceramic ware such as bowls, cups, plates and saucers
• Adjusting and setting controls of pug mills that mix, extrude, cut, and deposit clay charges in or over moulds as specified
• Smoothening surfaces of finished pieces, using rubber scrapers and wet sponges
• Forming abrasive wheels by moulding and pressing an abrasive mixture by hand or by machine
• Examining finished ware for defects and verifying accuracy of shapes and sizes of objects, using callipers and templates

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

• Sign writers, decorative painters, engravers and etchers
• Musical instrument makers and tuners
• Jewellery and precious-metal workers
• Precision-instrument makers and repairers
• Handicraft workers in textile, leather and related materials
• Handicraft workers not elsewhere classified

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Questions people ask

Do you need a degree to become a potter or related worker?

Usually not. Only 9% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of a potter or related worker?

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
• 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