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Molding box carpenters

How to become a Formwork Carpenter

Also called: Formwork stripper, Formwork worker, Concrete formwork erector

Makes formwork, the moulds that shape reinforced concrete, and assembles it on building sites.

Main tasks

Workers in this job say high school or less than high school is common. From job tag's survey of people in each job, who could give several answers. It shows what workers see as common, not how many workers hold each level.

How to become one

No particular education or qualifications are needed to start. Many people start as apprentices and become fully skilled by learning on the job. Some companies recruit new graduates and send them to accredited training schools to train them as future leaders. At first you train under skilled workers in surveying, setting out, fabrication and assembly. After a set amount of work experience you can sit the formwork exam in the ginou kentei (national trade skills test) run by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. To become a work supervisor, the Industrial Safety and Health Act requires the formwork support assembly work chief qualification. You build formwork from construction drawings marked to the millimetre, so you need the spatial sense to picture 3D shapes from drawings and good practical skills. There is work at height and heavy lifting, so agility and physical strength are needed too.

Ways in

Pay · Job openings · AI and this job

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Questions people ask

How do I become a Formwork Carpenter?

No particular education or qualifications are needed to start. Many people start as apprentices and become fully skilled by learning on the job. Some companies recruit new graduates and send them to accredited training schools to train them as future leaders. At first you train under skilled workers in surveying, setting out, fabrication and assembly. After a set amount of work experience you can sit the formwork exam in the ginou kentei (national trade skills test) run by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. To become a work supervisor, the Industrial Safety and Health Act requires the formwork support assembly work chief qualification. You build formwork from construction drawings marked to the millimetre, so you need the spatial sense to picture 3D shapes from drawings and good practical skills. There is work at height and heavy lifting, so agility and physical strength are needed too.

How much does a Formwork Carpenter earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥4,145,100 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Building frame workers (formwork, scaffolding, reinforcing), which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Formwork Carpenter?

Usually not. In this job's census occupation group, only 3% of workers are university graduates. Ways in include: National trade skills test (技能検定).

Will AI change the work of a Formwork Carpenter?

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

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026