Handicraft workers in textile, leather and related materials
In the ILO's assessment few of the job's tasks can be done by generative AI, or the scores are too spread out to reach gradient 1 — generative AI does not meaningfully take over the core of the work.
Exposure is not job loss: it shows how much of the work generative AI could do today. Whether that turns into transformation, productivity gains or cuts depends on employers, regulation — and on you.
0 = today’s generative AI cannot perform any of the job’s tasks, 100 = it could do all of them fully. The pale band is the spread across tasks.
Work out your own score ↓What can you do?
The AI analysis for this occupation is still being prepared — the background process covers a few occupations every day.
Task by task
The ILO scored every task of the occupation separately, as the average of two AI models (GPT-4o and Gemini). The pale band is the range between the two models' scores, the dot the ILO's final score (for a few tasks expert review placed it outside the band).
- Grading and classifying natural textile fibres21
- Spinning and dyeing with natural dyestuffs, wool, cotton and other fibres15
- Preparing and dyeing hides with natural dyestuffs and making traditional footwear or handbags, belts and other accessories15
- Lace-making and weaving, knitting or embroidering various garments and articles for household use14
- Making carpets by using a knotting technique14
- Weaving plain or figured cloth, tapestry, lace, carpet or other fabrics on hand looms14
- Knitting garments and other articles on hand-operated machine or by hand14
- Making nets by hand14
- Forming fibres into sliver, combing them, combining sliver into sliver laps or forming sliver into rove.13
- Spinning and winding yarn by hand12
- Cleaning and fluffing textile fibres12
- Drawing warp threads into loom by hand11
- Crocheting or making braid by hand11
- Washing wool fibres8
How much does it affect you?
Every job is different: mark which of these tasks you do and how much, and we'll compute your own, time-weighted score.
For each task: I don't do it · sometimes · most of my job.
- Grading and classifying natural textile fibres(21)
- Spinning and dyeing with natural dyestuffs, wool, cotton and other fibres(15)
- Preparing and dyeing hides with natural dyestuffs and making traditional footwear or handbags, belts and other accessories(15)
- Lace-making and weaving, knitting or embroidering various garments and articles for household use(14)
- Making carpets by using a knotting technique(14)
- Weaving plain or figured cloth, tapestry, lace, carpet or other fabrics on hand looms(14)
- Knitting garments and other articles on hand-operated machine or by hand(14)
- Making nets by hand(14)
- Forming fibres into sliver, combing them, combining sliver into sliver laps or forming sliver into rove.(13)
- Spinning and winding yarn by hand(12)
- Cleaning and fluffing textile fibres(12)
- Drawing warp threads into loom by hand(11)
- Crocheting or making braid by hand(11)
- Washing wool fibres(8)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 13.)
About 0% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Grading and classifying natural textile fibres
- • Spinning and dyeing with natural dyestuffs, wool, cotton and other fibres
- • Washing wool fibres
- • Drawing warp threads into loom by hand
An estimate from the ILO task scores. Everything is computed in your browser — nothing is sent or stored.
How many people work in this occupational group?
Share of the Handicraft and printing workers group in total employment, by country (Eurostat, ISCO 2-digit — 4-digit breakdowns are not public by country).
Table view
| Country | Handicraft and printing workers |
|---|---|
| Italy | 1.0% · 230 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 0.7% · 32 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 0.6% · 6 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 0.6% · 28 thousand · 2025 |
| Bulgaria | 0.5% · 16 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 0.5% · 27 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 0.5% · 7 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 0.5% · 80 thousand · 2025 |
| Germany | 0.5% · 192 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 0.4% · 1 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 0.4% · 22 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 0.4% · 7 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 0.4% · 117 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovakia | 0.4% · 10 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 0.4% · 17 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 0.4% · 16 thousand · 2025 |
| Estonia | 0.3% · 2 thousand · 2025 |
| United Kingdom | 0.3% · 108 thousand · 2025 |
| Romania | 0.3% · 24 thousand · 2025 |
| Belgium | 0.3% · 16 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 0.3% · 65 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 0.3% · 28 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 0.3% · 9 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 0.3% · 2 thousand · 2025 |
| Norway | 0.2% · 7 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 0.2% · 13 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 0.2% · 6 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 0.2% · 1 thousand · 2025 |
| Finland | 0.2% · 5 thousand · 2025 |
What do they earn?
Mean gross monthly earnings in the major occupational group (Craft and related trades workers). Eurostat's earnings survey only publishes pay by occupation at 1 digit, so this is the job's broader group. Enterprises with 10+ employees, 2022.
By country, at purchasing power parity (PPS/month), so countries with different price levels can be compared.
- Switzerland4,098
- Iceland3,826
- Denmark3,666
- Norway3,260
- Belgium2,979
- Germany2,859
- Luxembourg2,760
- Sweden2,733
- Netherlands2,717
- Austria2,715
- Finland2,711
- EU272,364
- Italy2,314
- Ireland2,200
- Spain2,124
- France2,122
- Malta2,032
- Slovenia2,012
- Lithuania2,008
- Greece1,799
- Estonia1,795
- Poland1,787
- Czechia1,781
- Cyprus1,751
- Romania1,734
- Hungary1,684
- Latvia1,680
- Slovakia1,672
- Croatia1,505
- Portugal1,285
- Bulgaria1,217
Source: Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey (earn_ses22_21), every four years. The United Kingdom is not covered by the survey.
Outlook to 2035
Employment in the Handicraft and printing workers group according to Cedefop's 2026 forecast.
thousand · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · 2026–2035: projection
Replacement demand is the jobs left by people retiring or changing careers — even a shrinking occupation can have many openings.
Related occupations
- Precision-instrument makers and repairers21
- Glass makers, cutters, grinders and finishers19
- Jewellery and precious-metal workers18
- Potters and related workers18
- Sign writers, decorative painters, engravers and etchers18
- Musical instrument makers and tuners14
- Handicraft workers in wood, basketry and related materials14
Sources: ILO WP140 (2025) · Eurostat lfsa_egai2d · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · WEF Future of Jobs 2025 · ESCO. The exposure score measures how much of an occupation's tasks generative AI could perform — not whether the job disappears. For information only, not career advice. How do we calculate this?