The Datum Report

Occupation 5223 · Skilled trades occupations

Metal working production and maintenance fitters and technicians

Metal working production and maintenance fitters and technicians erect, install and repair electrical and mechanical plant and industrial machinery, fit and assemble parts and sub-assemblies in the manufacture of metal products and test and adjust new motor vehicles and engines.

How people enter it

Entrants usually possess GCSEs/S grades or a BTEC/SQA award. Apprenticeships in Engineering Maintenance at NVQ/SVQ level 3 are available.

What the work involves

Also called

Agricultural engineer · Bench fitter · Engineering machinist · Fabricator · Installation engineer · Maintenance fitter · Mechanical engineer

What it pays

MeasureHoursBasisPeriodValueSource
5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None None 2026-03 104,500.00 ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None None 2026-03 114,000.00 ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None None 2026-03 130,600.00 ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None None 2026-03 4,900.00 ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None None 2026-03 16,700.00 ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None None 2026-03 135,500.00 ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None None 2026-03 9,400.00 ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

RegionMeasureHoursValuePeriod
East 5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None 11,400.00 2026-03
East Midlands 5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None 10,800.00 2026-03
London 5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None 4,800.00 2026-03
North East 5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None 6,600.00 2026-03
North West 5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None 14,700.00 2026-03
Northern Ireland 5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None 4,900.00 2026-03
Scotland 5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None 16,700.00 2026-03
South East 5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None 15,000.00 2026-03
South West 5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None 8,100.00 2026-03
Wales 5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None 9,400.00 2026-03
West Midlands 5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None 17,400.00 2026-03
Yorkshire and The Humber 5223 : Metal working production and maintenance fitters None 15,800.00 2026-03

Common questions

Does pay for metal working production and maintenance fitters and technicians vary by region?

ONS publishes regional pay for this occupation where the survey sample supports it — 12 of 12 cells on this page. The rest are withheld by ONS, and are shown as withheld with the reason, rather than left out.

Where do these pay figures come from?

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, published by the Office for National Statistics. Figures are shown exactly as ONS publishes them — we do not adjust, model or fill them in, and every number on this page carries the series and period it came from.

Classified alongside this

Air-conditioning and refrigeration installers and repairers · Metal machining setters and setter-operators · Precision instrument makers and repairers · Tool makers, tool fitters and markers-out