footwear patternmaker
Footwear patternmakers design and cut patterns for all kinds of footwear using a variety of hand and simple machine tools. They check various nesting variants and perform material consumption estimation. Once the sample model has been approved for production, they produce series of patterns for range of footwear in different sizes.
footwear patternmaker footwear patternmakers design and cut patterns for all kinds of footwear using a variety of hand and simple machine tools. They check various nesting variants and perform material consumption estimation. 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 footwear materials, footwear manufacturing technology, footwear quality, footwear components, create patterns for footwear.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £25,357 a year for Footwear and leather working trades (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 5412). ONS rates this estimate acceptable: it rests on a small sample, so treat it as a rough guide. 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 footwear patternmaker, 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
Frequently asked questions
What does footwear patternmaker do?
Footwear patternmakers design and cut patterns for all kinds of footwear using a variety of hand and simple machine tools. They check various nesting variants and perform material consumption estimation. Once the sample model has been approved for production, they produce series of patterns for range of footwear in different sizes.
What skills does footwear patternmaker need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include footwear materials, footwear manufacturing technology, footwear quality, footwear components, create patterns for footwear, analyse types of footwear. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace footwear patternmaker?
Our AI-durability model gives footwear patternmaker 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.