In recent years, the traditional trades like carpentry, the plumbing or kitchen assembly have regained prominence in the Spanish labor market. The increase in demand for home renovations and maintenance has driven the need for qualified professionals, while fewer and fewer young people are considering dedicating themselves to this type of work.
In this context, some workers have found in these jobs an opportunity to improve their income and develop their own business. This is the case of Gabriel, a carpenter from Venezuela and a self-employed person living in Spain for six years, who has gone from working in removals earning less than 90 euros a day to now billing up to 6,000 euros a month. In an interview for NewsWorkexplains how he came to dedicate himself to carpentry and why he decided to make the leap to working for himself.
Gabriel’s first contact with manual work dates back to his childhood in his country of origin, where from a young age he showed interest in repairing objects and assembling furniture at home. However, his professional career in Spain began in a very different sector. When he arrived, he started working in a moving company, where he carried out tasks of loading and transporting furniture. It was there that the opportunity arose that would mark the beginning of his career in carpentry.
As he explains, his boss was looking for workers who knew how to assemble furniture and had their own tools. Gabriel offered and began receiving jobs related to assembly on construction sites, and as time went by he took on new jobs, from assembling small furniture to installing complete kitchens. Later he participated in larger projects, such as the carpentry of a nursing home in Barcelona or work in the VIP area of the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.
How much does a self-employed carpenter earn?
Gabriel’s experience reflects an increasingly common reality in manual trades, such as the difference in income between those who work on their own and those who work as employees.
After several years working on construction sites, he decided to become self-employed and offer his services directly to individuals, attracting clients through applications and setting his own hourly rate. He currently estimates that in a month with a lot of activity he can bill between 5,000 and 6,000 euros, which, after paying taxes and expenses, can translate into about 3,500 “clean” euros.
“Before I earned about 80 or 90 euros a day doing moves, now my phone is full of messages from clients who need work.”
Salary difference between a self-employed and salaried carpenter
For Gabriel, becoming self-employed meant an important change in his working conditions. According to him, when he worked as a salaried employee on construction sites he had contracts with salaries close to 1,500 euros per month, even though the job required assembling complete kitchens and other elements.
On the other hand, he assures that setting up a kitchen as a freelancer can cost around 700 euros in labor alone, depending on the project. Thus, his experience leads him to point out that many workers in the sector earn less when they work for companies than when they do it on their own.
However, he also recognizes that freelancing also has drawbacks. Among them, the difficulty in accessing bank financing stands out. “With a contract it is easier to get a loan, even if you earn less. As a self-employed person, even if you have income, it costs more,” he says.
Despite this, his balance is positive, since, after several years in the sector, Gabriel defends that trades such as carpentry continue to be a job option with good prospects for those who are willing to learn and gain experience. “Right now there is a lot of work,” he concludes.