solderer
Solderers operate various equipment and machinery such as gas torches, soldering irons, welding machines, or electric-ultrasonic equipment in order to solder together two or more items (usually metals), by melting and forming a metal filler in between the joints, the filler metal has a lower melting point than the adjoining metal.
solderer solderers operate various equipment and machinery such as gas torches, soldering irons, welding machines, or electric-ultrasonic equipment in order to solder together two or more items (usually metals), by melting and forming a metal filler in between the join. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include torch temperature for metal processes, types of metal, quality standards, apply soldering techniques, prepare pieces for joining.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £35,344 a year for Welding trades (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £29,783 to £44,176 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 5213). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Craft and related trades workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only solderer, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 7. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Production and Processing
- Administration and Management
- Design
- Public Safety and Security
- English Language
- Mechanical
- Customer and Personal Service
- Engineering and Technology
What you'd actually do
- Read blueprints, work orders, or production schedules to determine product or job instructions or specifications.
- Inspect, measure, or test completed metal workpieces to ensure conformance to specifications, using measuring and testing devices.
- Record operational information on specified production reports.
- Correct problems by adjusting controls or by stopping machines and opening holding devices.
- Set up, operate, or tend welding machines that join or bond components to fabricate metal products or assemblies.
- Select torch tips, alloys, flux, coil, tubing, or wire, according to metal types or thicknesses, data charts, or records.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does solderer do?
Solderers operate various equipment and machinery such as gas torches, soldering irons, welding machines, or electric-ultrasonic equipment in order to solder together two or more items (usually metals), by melting and forming a metal filler in between the joints, the filler metal has a lower melting point than the adjoining metal.
What skills does solderer need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include torch temperature for metal processes, types of metal, quality standards, apply soldering techniques, prepare pieces for joining, monitor gauge. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace solderer?
Our AI-durability model gives solderer a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.