Shortage Of Welders

[tig1]

There is a thread now in General topics about becoming a welder. I saw this today by Jay Leno on welding and thought I would pass it along.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/welder-shortage-jay-leno-video.html

 

[Pablo]

Amazing - I WAS just talking to my wife about this!! (not welding, but machinists)

Jay in the commercial nails it. Everyone wants to be a cube dweller making $150K year. (Still not knowing what they want to do in that cube except surf BITOG the web.)

People don't want to address this issue......not that we should "do something*", but we do have a serious lack of skilled people in this country. Problem is:

a) It takes work!
b) People are afraid of work.
c) People have no clue
d) It's as if thinking will make your head esplode.

*Yes government can play a role. But so far there seems to be a real turd in the crick when just handing money out for schooling.

 

[Chris142]

I know several certified welders and machinest's that are not working due to the economy or took other jobs not connected to welding or machining stuff. My boss's kid is one of them. He specializes in welding Aluminum and his welds look great but there's no need for him right now.

 

[4D-56]

Maybe I need to get back on the lathe?!....i served my time as a toolmaker in England. Its been a long time since I was on the machines.

 

[SLCraig]

I also went through for a trade originally (truck mechanic) but there was 0 work when I got out of school.
I still think that trades are good, gratifying work, but there has to BE work. I should look into it again. I currently have a job in IT, but it's not exciting nor rewarding. Simply pays bills.

 

[Smoky14]

The problem is the SKILL level of the trade involved and the people who hire on a cert rather than a skill level. Those who hire, look at the bottom line, how cheaply can I hire a mechanic. The skill level isn't a factor in the decision just the dollar amount. I've interviewed for jobs and was offered a job that wouldn't pay for the wear and tear on my tools and equipment. I walked away, they hired a novice, the kid screwed up more equipment than you can imagine and the cost is passed onto the customer without much backlash to the guy who hired the jerk who can't trouble shoot.
Welding is a skill, submarine seam welding comes to mind. I was at one time a certified acft welder, but with machine welding the certification is now the machine rather than the welder or the inspector.
Darn few Jay Lenos who will pay the freight.

 

[tig1]

Originally Posted By: Smoky14
The problem is the SKILL level of the trade involved and the people who hire on a cert rather than a skill level. Those who hire, look at the bottom line, how cheaply can I hire a mechanic. The skill level isn't a factor in the decision just the dollar amount. I've interviewed for jobs and was offered a job that wouldn't pay for the wear and tear on my tools and equipment. I walked away, they hired a novice, the kid screwed up more equipment than you can imagine and the cost is passed onto the customer without much backlash to the guy who hired the jerk who can't trouble shoot.
Welding is a skill, submarine seam welding comes to mind. I was at one time a certified acft welder, but with machine welding the certification is now the machine rather than the welder or the inspector.
Darn few Jay Lenos who will pay the freight.


I welded on the inner bows of the first of the Ohio class subs in the late 70s and track welding(submerged arc) are important, but hands on welding is still a must. Production mig welding is a start for a welder, but the real art is well down the road in custom work with various alloys.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Amazing - I WAS just talking to my wife about this!! (not welding, but machinists)

Jay in the commercial nails it. Everyone wants to be a cube dweller making $150K year. (Still not knowing what they want to do in that cube except surf BITOG the web.)

People don't want to address this issue......not that we should "do something*", but we do have a serious lack of skilled people in this country. Problem is:

a) It takes work!
b) People are afraid of work.
c) People have no clue
d) It's as if thinking will make your head esplode.

*Yes government can play a role. But so far there seems to be a real turd in the crick when just handing money out for schooling.


Another issue is that many skilled trades are going to immigrants; both legal and illegal.

There are still good jobs for welders and machinists, but you have to be in the right part of the country. The upper midwest is where most of those jobs are from what I know; my uncle was a machinist in Wisconsin for 30 years and he did great.

 

[buster]

What Drew said. I'm glad to see Leno pushing it.

Quote:
But How did this welder shortage happen?

Here is how....Somehow it has become more noble to click a mouse in a Dilbert cube under buzzing fluorescent lights than to get calloused hands with dirt under your fingernails from the hard dirty work you might do if you are a welder.


I have often thought about changing careers and doing something more hands-on.

 

[buster]

Quote:
Problem is:

a) It takes work!
b) People are afraid of work.
c) People have no clue
d) It's as if thinking will make your head esplode.


Another ignorant, over generalization.

Americans are among the hardest workers in the world.

 

[PandaBear]

No, it has nothing to do with American being lazy (contrary most Americans work very hard, compare to other nationals, for the same percentage of population).

The problem with many of these shortages has to do with the volatility of the work force and the amount of money needed to get to the level corporate wanted for these high quality work forces.

I'm not familiar with machining other than hearing about it from my dad (a machinist and tool maker back in his 20s). You need a lot of time to develop talents and you need to pay them enough for the standard of living that will keep them in the profession, or they will leave and pursue something else (i.e. those $150k cube dwelling jobs you so desired).

We are now in a boom and bust cycle economy that no one can predict how long is the boom and how long is the bust. So when the time is good corporate (and government) want talents NOW, but they want to pay average price for the labor as if labor is a manufactured good that can increase / decrease supply on demand. They also want to pay only a "competitive" price, which means a certain percent over what they can import from China and India, whether it means H1B visa or outsource the works.

So, we hear about skill shortage all over the place, then college students are lazy and not wanting to work hard, then the need to import labor, then imported labor stealing jobs, etc.

Everyone wants to hire only the above average, pay the average, and complain that they can only fill 50% of their opening...

 

[Mr Nice]

Quote:
Another issue is that many skilled trades are going to immigrants; both legal and illegal.

There are still good jobs for welders and machinists, but you have to be in the right part of the country. The upper midwest is where most of those jobs are from what I know; my uncle was a machinist in Wisconsin for 30 years and he did great.


Yep, its coming down to the minimum salary what a company is willing to pay and how desperate a person is for a paycheck. Thats why I asked in the other post how stable is a career in welding. If you read Indeed.com forums under welder… there are quite a few people with many years of experience that are out of work. Plus it takes YEARS of welding before you become proficient at the trade. Trades are a great career path but some trades are more stable than others.

If the OP is in Texas maybe he can look for work in the oil & gas industry.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear

Everyone wants to hire only the above average, pay the average, and complain that they can only fill 50% of their opening...


There's actually a lot of truth to that, in many industries. Take trucking as an example; the industry claims there's this huge shortage of drivers willing to drive trucks. It's a myth created by the industry to get suckers in there to work for peanuts. Just like the quote from the original article with Jay Leno: "If there is such a welder shortage, why hasn't the pay gone up?"

Many skilled trades are going this way, to include low level IT. With globalization, there is no shortage at all. If there was, wages would be going up, not falling off a cliff like they have over the last 2 decades for average workers.

 

[buster]

Quote:
Everyone wants to be a cube dweller making $150K year


Really? Most people I know hate being cube dwellers. It seems you are once again way out of line with reality. Wow.

 

[buster]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Originally Posted By: PandaBear

Everyone wants to hire only the above average, pay the average, and complain that they can only fill 50% of their opening...


There's actually a lot of truth to that, in many industries. Take trucking as an example; the industry claims there's this huge shortage of drivers willing to drive trucks. It's a myth created by the industry to get suckers in there to work for peanuts. Just like the quote from the original article with Jay Leno: "If there is such a welder shortage, why hasn't the pay gone up?"

Many skilled trades are going this way, to include low level IT. With globalization, there is no shortage at all. If there was, wages would be going up, not falling off a cliff like they have over the last 2 decades for average workers.


+1

 

[crinkles]

Thinking of becoming a trucker here.

Not good for your health though, I'd say. Don't see many healthy truckers.

Cube dwelling is making me fat (and eating too much of course.) and my brain dumb.

 

[user52165]

I wonder how many welders would be hired if the Keystone pipeline was being built?

 

[buster]

From what I read, which may or may not be true, the Keystone pipeline wouldn't have added many jobs. Good question though.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: buster
Quote:
Everyone wants to be a cube dweller making $150K year


Really? Most people I know hate being cube dwellers. It seems you are once again way out of line with reality. Wow.



I was kidding. Don't take everything so seriously. Wow.

Some folks in the younger generation have somehow been shown it's not honorable to do physical work, yet they want to start at the high end of the pay spectrum. It's not going to end well.

 

[user52165]

Originally Posted By: buster
From what I read, which may or may not be true, the Keystone pipeline wouldn't have added many jobs. Good question though.


The figure I hear is about 20K......... obviously not all would be welders. Some would be longer or shorter term than others. A friend who worked on the Alaska pipeline in the 70's was there 3 years and made a bundle.

Edit - today I just spent $4.09 for regular, and that was the cheapest nearby.