Career Trends: General Maintenance and Repair Workers

General maintenance and repair workers fix and maintain machines, mechanical equipment, and buildings. They paint, repair flooring, and work on plumbing, electrical, and air-conditioning and heating systems.

General maintenance and repair workers often carry out many different tasks in a single day. They could work at any number of indoor or outdoor locations. They may work inside a single building, such as a hotel or hospital, or be responsible for the maintenance of many buildings, such as those in an apartment complex or on a college campus.

Jobs in this occupation typically do not require any formal education beyond high school. General maintenance and repair workers often learn their skills on the job. They start by doing simple tasks and watching and learning from skilled maintenance workers.

Employment of general maintenance and repair workers is projected to grow 6 percent from 2014 to 2024, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Demand will increase as home sales continue to recover and rental and commercial properties continue to need maintenance and repair.

This occupation supported 1,325,100 jobs in 2012 and 1,374,700 jobs in 2014, reflecting an increase of 3.7%. In 2012, this occupation was projected to increase by 9.4% in 2022 to 1,450,300 jobs. As of 2014, to keep pace with prediction, the expected number of jobs was 1,350,100, compared with an observed value of 1,374,700, 1.8% higher than expected. This indicates current employment trends are about on track with the 2012 trend within this occupation. In 2014, this occupation was projected to increase by 6.3% in 2024 to 1,458,100 jobs. Linear extrapolation of the 2012 projection for 2022 results in an expected number of 1,475,300 jobs for 2024, 1.2% higher than the 2014 projection for 2024. This indicates expectations for future employment trends are about on track with the 2012 trend within this occupation.