Sheet Metal Workers
Fabricate, assemble, install, and repair sheet metal products and equipment, such as ducts, control boxes, drainpipes, and furnace casings. Work may involve any of the following: setting up and operating fabricating machines to cut, bend, and straighten sheet metal; shaping metal over anvils, blocks, or forms using hammer; operating soldering and welding equipment to join sheet metal parts; or inspecting, assembling, and smoothing seams and joints of burred surfaces. Includes sheet metal duct installers who install prefabricated sheet metal ducts used for heating, air conditioning, or other purposes.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Coordination
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Mathematics
- Judgment and Decision Making
Key knowledge
- Mechanical
- Building and Construction
- Mathematics
- Design
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Education and Training
- Production and Processing
What the work involves
- Install assemblies, such as flashing, pipes, tubes, heating and air conditioning ducts, furnace casings, rain gutters, or downspouts in supportive frameworks.
- Select gauges or types of sheet metal or nonmetallic material, according to product specifications.
- Fasten seams or joints together with welds, bolts, cement, rivets, solder, caulks, metal drive clips, or bonds to assemble components into products or to repair sheet metal items.
- Fabricate or alter parts at construction sites, using shears, hammers, punches, or drills.
- Trim, file, grind, deburr, buff, or smooth surfaces, seams, or joints of assembled parts, using hand tools or portable power tools.
- Maintain equipment, making repairs or modifications when necessary.
- Shape metal material over anvils, blocks, or other forms, using hand tools.
- Transport prefabricated parts to construction sites for assembly and installation.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (49% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (46.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (40.5%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Sheet Metal Workers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 89% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others about half the time” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 68% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 84% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 91% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 60% of occupations compared | — |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 64% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 55% of occupations compared | 33% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 86% of occupations compared | 55% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 9.13%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 33.46%
- Contact with others most of the time: 28.72%
- Constant contact with others: 28.69%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 13.03%
- Fairly important: 15.53%
- Important: 44.87%
- Very important: 15.25%
- Extremely important: 11.32%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2023
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 9%
- Important: 33.17%
- Very important: 35.67%
- Extremely important: 22.16%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2023
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 9.13%
- Very little freedom: 7.5%
- Limited freedom: 30.66%
- Some freedom: 39.33%
- A lot of freedom: 13.38%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2023
Time pressure
- Never: 6.53%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 9%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 22.24%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 4.29%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2023
Conflict situations
- Never: 28.83%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 24.89%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 10.84%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 26.44%
- Every day: 9%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 17.32%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 32.83%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 9.13%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 27.7%
- Every day: 13.03%
n = 15, Incumbent 08/2023
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 9.28%
- Fairly serious: 12.66%
- Serious: 16.11%
- Very serious: 6.52%
- Extremely serious: 55.43%
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2023
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O*NET-SOC 47-2211.00 · SOC 47-2211 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8