In an era of rampant layoffs, it can feel like no job is safe.
Except, perhaps, elevator mechanics.
Judy Marks is the CEO of elevator giant Otis and oversees a workforce of roughly 72,000 employees. That includes about 45,000 mechanics — and she says the company can’t hire them fast enough.
“The demand is high,” Marks told Business Insider.
When Otis spun off from its parent company in April 2020, it employed about 40,000 of these field professionals. Today, that number has increased by about 12.5% to 45,000, Otis said. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that elevator and escalator installers and repairers will grow by 5% between 2024 and 2034, which is 2% above the average for all occupations.
Beyond installing elevators and escalators, mechanics also maintain and repair equipment, she said. In some markets, including Japan, she said a declining population combined with a boom in refurbishment and construction has made hiring a challenge.
Mechanics also don’t have to worry about losing their jobs to automation in the immediate future. As a regulated industry in most countries, Marks said humans are essential to the job. The role requires years of training and physical labor, which hasn’t been easily replaced by robots so far.
“This is truly a craft skill,” Marks said.
A long-term career
Many skilled-trade jobs have been on the rise in recent years. LinkedIn released data last year that revealed construction was the fastest-growing industry for new college grads. In 2026, it ranked construction fifth among the fastest-growing industries for new grads.
Marks said elevator mechanics, in particular, tend to stay in the profession for decades. She said Otis has roughly as many mechanics with zero to five years of experience as it does workers who have been with the company for more than 30 years.
“We don’t have this kind of ‘silver cliff’ that’s coming,” Marks said, referring to how some older workers struggle in other trades.
“Most of them stay in the trade the rest of their life, and a lot of them, their fathers or mothers or grandfathers were in it.”
In the US, Otis elevator mechanics are represented through a multi-employer union. Marks said it offers an apprenticeship for people starting at 18 years old, working for Otis during the day as helpers while attending elevator service school at night. After completing a four-year apprenticeship and passing a mechanic’s exam, workers achieve journeyman status in the trade.
One of the highest-paying trade jobs
Elevator mechanics sit at the top of the pay scale when it comes to trade jobs.
The BLS released data on Friday that found that elevator and escalator installers and repairers earned the highest average salary among construction and extraction occupations in May 2025, at $109,820, with the 90th percentile at $158,890. That’s well above both the category’s average wage of $65,360 and the overall US average wage of $69,770, according to the report.
Other top-paying trades in the category included first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers, who earned an average of $86,450, and terrazzo workers and finishers, who made $84,920, the report said.
In addition to solid pay, elevator mechanic roles at Otis also include eligibility for paid college tuition.
“When they come out and come work for us, I’ll pay if they want to go to college,” Marks said.
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