The industry today: where you can work and what the future holds
Workplaces job opportunities and demand for housing assembly's three specialties
Upholstery is not a mass-produced trade — there is not a skilled worker on every street corner. This means that companies that need your skills often find it difficult to find them. A small trade with steady demand is a good combination if you want a craft where you are difficult to replace.
§Where can you work?
Where you end up depends very much on your speciality. Upholsterers work at upholstery workshops, with furniture manufacturers and with furniture restoration. Automotive trimmer-makers find work at workshops making car, bus, train and boat interiors as well as special vehicle outfitting. Interior decorators work in curtain shops and interior design and with measuring and installation in customers' homes or in commercial buildings.
- 01Upholstery workshops and furniture manufacturers (furniture upholsterer)
- 02Auto Upholstery Workshops and Vehicle Fitting - Cars, Buses, Trains, Boats (Auto Upholsterer)
- 03Curtain shops, home furnishing and installation at customers (curtain decorator)
- 04Restoration and conservation of older furniture and interiors - across specialties
§Self-employed with own workshop
Many in the trade are employed in established stonemasonry companies, but the craft also lends itself to independence. With a journeyman's certificate, experience and a good reputation, you can eventually start for yourself. It requires knowledge of more than the craft — also calculation, customer contact and company management.
§Reuse and restoration heading up
The trend towards repairing rather than throwing out plays well into the profession's hands. When people want an old armchair or an inherited sofa restored to like-new rather than buying new, it is precisely an upholsterer the job lands with. The growing interest in sustainability, quality furniture, and restoration can give the profession momentum in the years to come.
§What is demanded?
Because the trade is small, the supply of new skilled workers may have difficulty keeping up as older craftsmen retire. This gives good opportunities for you, who are willing to learn the trade thoroughly. Take your choice of specialty seriously, be open to relocating after the workshops that train, and build a name on good craftsmanship - then there is work to find.
“In a small trade you do not become a number in the crowd - you become the one the company calls because there are not ten others around the corner.”