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Cutters and Trimmers, Hand
Use hand tools or hand-held power tools to cut and trim a variety of manufactured items, such as carpet, fabric, stone, glass, or rubber.
Also Known As:
Cloth Cutter
Denim Cutter
Fabric Cutter
Finisher
Glass Cutter
Hand Cutter
Leather Cutter
Offline Cutter
Sample Cutter
Trimmer
Wages
Annual wages for Cutters and Trimmers, Hand in United States
Job Outlook
Below Average
New job opportunities are less likely in the future
United States
2034 Projected Employment
5,700
-18% Change From 2024
Tasks you might complete in a day.
- Count or weigh and bundle items.
- Route items to provide cutouts for parts, using portable routers, grinders, and hand tools.
- Position templates or measure materials to locate specified points of cuts or to obtain maximum yields, using rules, scales, or patterns.
- Mark identification numbers, trademarks, grades, marketing data, sizes, or model numbers on products.
- Unroll, lay out, attach, or mount materials or items on cutting tables or machines.
- Count or weigh and bundle items.
- Clean, treat, buff, or polish finished items, using grinders, brushes, chisels, and cleaning solutions and polishing materials.
- Stack cut items and load them on racks or conveyors or onto trucks.
- Route items to provide cutouts for parts, using portable routers, grinders, and hand tools.
- Separate materials or products according to size, weight, type, condition, color, or shade.
- Lower table-mounted cutters such as knife blades, cutting wheels, or saws to cut items to specified sizes.
- Trim excess material or cut threads off finished products, such as cutting loose ends of plastic off a manufactured toy for a smoother finish.
- Cut, shape, and trim materials, such as textiles, food, glass, stone, and metal, using knives, scissors, and other hand tools, portable power tools, or bench-mounted tools.
- Fold or shape materials before or after cutting them.
- Transport items to work or storage areas, using carts.
- Mark cutting lines around patterns or templates, or follow layout points, using squares, rules, and straightedges, and chalk, pencils, or scribes.
- Clean, treat, buff, or polish finished items, using grinders, brushes, chisels, and cleaning solutions and polishing materials.
- Cut, shape, and trim materials, such as textiles, food, glass, stone, and metal, using knives, scissors, and other hand tools, portable power tools, or bench-mounted tools.
- Read work orders to determine dimensions, cutting locations, and quantities to cut.
- Mark or discard items with defects such as spots, stains, scars, snags, chips, scratches, or unacceptable shapes or finishes.
- Replace or sharpen dulled cutting tools such as saws.
- Adjust guides and stops to control depths and widths of cuts.
- Clean, treat, buff, or polish finished items, using grinders, brushes, chisels, and cleaning solutions and polishing materials.
- Position templates or measure materials to locate specified points of cuts or to obtain maximum yields, using rules, scales, or patterns.
- Replace or sharpen dulled cutting tools such as saws.
Subject areas you may need to master.
- Economics and Accounting - Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
- Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
- Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
- Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- History and Archeology - Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
- Telecommunications - Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
- Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
- Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Foreign Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
- Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
- Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
- Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Philosophy and Theology - Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
- Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
- Food Production - Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
- Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
- Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
- Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
- Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
- Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Strengths you may need in this role.
- Mathematics - Using math to solve problems.
- Equipment Selection - Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
- Systems Analysis - Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
- Critical Thinking - Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
- Programming - Writing computer programs.
- Management of Material Resources - Managing equipment and materials.
- Reading Comprehension - Reading work-related information.
- Writing - Writing things for co-workers or customers.
- Active Listening - Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
- Active Learning - Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
- Complex Problem Solving - Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
- Time Management - Managing your time and the time of other people.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
- Management of Financial Resources - Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
- Science - Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
- Social Perceptiveness - Understanding people's reactions.
- Installation - Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
- Troubleshooting - Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
- Learning Strategies - Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
- Technology Design - Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
- Operation and Control - Using equipment or systems.
- Monitoring - Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
- Instructing - Teaching people how to do something.
- Equipment Maintenance - Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
- Management of Personnel Resources - Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
- Coordination - Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
- Repairing - Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
- Persuasion - Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
- Operations Analysis - Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
- Quality Control Analysis - Testing how well a product or service works.
- Service Orientation - Looking for ways to help people.
- Systems Evaluation - Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
- Speaking - Talking to others.
- Negotiation - Bringing people together to solve differences.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
- Rate Control - Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
- Hearing Sensitivity - Telling the difference between sounds.
- Night Vision - Seeing at night or under low light.
- Speed of Closure - Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
- Manual Dexterity - Holding or moving items with your hands.
- Multilimb Coordination - Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
- Explosive Strength - Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
- Trunk Strength - Using your lower back and stomach.
- Written Comprehension - Reading and understanding what is written.
- Written Expression - Communicating by writing.
- Flexibility of Closure - Seeing hidden patterns.
- Time Sharing - Doing two or more things at the same time.
- Response Orientation - Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
- Gross Body Equilibrium - Keeping your balance or staying upright.
- Peripheral Vision - Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
- Perceptual Speed - Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
- Visual Color Discrimination - Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
- Auditory Attention - Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
- Originality - Creating new and original ideas.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness - Keeping your arm or hand steady.
- Speed of Limb Movement - Quickly moving your arms and legs.
- Static Strength - Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
- Dynamic Strength - Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
- Stamina - Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
- Dynamic Flexibility - Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Glare Sensitivity - Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
- Spatial Orientation - Knowing where things are around you.
- Sound Localization - Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
- Information Ordering - Ordering or arranging things.
- Category Flexibility - Grouping things in different ways.
- Mathematical Reasoning - Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
- Number Facility - Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
- Control Precision - Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
- Finger Dexterity - Putting together small parts with your fingers.
- Selective Attention - Paying attention to something without being distracted.
- Depth Perception - Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
- Speech Clarity - Speaking clearly.
- Gross Body Coordination - Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
- Oral Expression - Communicating by speaking.
- Problem Sensitivity - Noticing when problems happen.
- Speech Recognition - Recognizing spoken words.
- Oral Comprehension - Listening and understanding what people say.
- Reaction Time - Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
- Wrist-Finger Speed - Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Extent Flexibility - Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Near Vision - Seeing details up close.
- Far Vision - Seeing details that are far away.
- Deductive Reasoning - Using rules to solve problems.
- Inductive Reasoning - Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
- Memorization - Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
- Fluency of Ideas - Coming up with lots of ideas.
- Visualization - Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Average Education Attained
Highest level of education earned by people in this career.
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Content sourced from United States Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration ("DOLETA") and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development ("DEED")