What welder
shortage?
In response to a recent Editor’s Corner
[“When one door closes,” January/February,
p. 6], a reader in Arizona wrote me and
challenged the notion of a welder shortage
given the current state of our economy.
He wrote, “There has not been one
advertisement for a welder of any kind since
the end of September of last year. Other
people that I converse with in different
parts of the country are telling me the same
thing too.”
He brings up a good point, one I’m sure
others have pondered. Given the circumstances, it’s fair to view the premise of a
welder shortage as absurd and the media as
a tad insensitive to those who currently find
themselves without jobs.
After all, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported 207,000 manufacturing jobs were
lost in January, the largest one-month
decline since October 1982. The BLS also
reported that in the same month, jobs relating to fabricated metal products dropped by
37,000; for motor vehicles and parts by
31,000; and machinery by 22,000. Overall,
unemployment rose from 7.2 to 7. 6 percent.
The evidence is all around us, big and
small. For example, a reader in Algonquin,
Ill., wrote in saying his two-man microweld-
ing firm put off hiring a third welder about a
year ago after seeing a significant slowdown.
Another reader in Kansas City, Mo., said
about 70 people from the production staff
where he works have been let go.
How can the industry say its needs
workers when plenty of able bodies are being
laid off and potential workers subjected to a
hiring freeze?
My best guess? It’s all about timing.
Just because times are tough now doesn’t
make the findings by the American Welding
Society obsolete. You’ve been beaten over
the head with these stats, but just in case
you don’t remember, AWS has said the
average age of welders is almost 60. Being in
a recession does not mean an already aging
work force will stop aging; it simply means
those welders might wait a little while longer
to hang up the gun.
AWS has also said by 2010 the demand
for welders will outstrip supply by 200,000.
Given the fact that many economists aren’t
projecting the economy will get out of its
current funk until well into 2010, maybe
that deadline will get pushed back a few
years.
The big point here is the perceived
welder shortage is more of an issue for
tomorrow. The best way to prepare for
tomorrow is to make plans today. At the
same time, maybe the industry also should
look for ways to keep skilled workers
employed and help displaced workers find
new jobs.
Send comments and technical
questions in writing to:
Amanda Carlson, Associate Editor
Practical Welding Today
833 Featherstone Road
Rockford, IL 61107-6302
Fax: 815-484-7788
E-mail: amandac@thefabricator.com
FMA OFFICERS & DIRECTORS
Chairman of the Board Mike Pellecchia, MC Machinery Systems Inc.
First Vice Chairman John Koschwanez, Independence Tube Corp.
Second Vice Chairman Tom Nederpel, VGAN Inc.
Secretary/Treasurer Dave Barber
Immediate Past Steve Heim, Brenco Industries Ltd.
Chairman of the Board
Directors Bruce Benedict, Production Tube Cutting Inc.
Tom Connell, Main Steel Polishing Co. Inc.
Burke Doar, TRUMPF Inc.
Vivek Gupta, Texas ProFab Corp.
Jeff Knauf, Medalist Laserfab Inc.
Dan McLeod, A. J. Forsyth—A Div. of
Russel Metals Inc.
Carlos Mendizabal Perez, Industrias Sekbir
S.A. de C. V.
Carlos Rodriguez, Acero-Prime S. de R. L.
de C.V.
Paul Russo, George A. Mitchell Co.
Ed Severson, Wilson Tool International
Edwin Stanley, The Gas House Inc.
Al Zelt, ASKO Inc.
President & CEO Gerald M. Shankel, Fabricators &
Manufacturers Association, Intl.
PRACTICAL WELDING TODAY
EDITORIAL REVIEW COMMITTEE
Tony Anderson, ESAB Welding & Cutting Products
David Bell, DWB Associates
Paul Cameron, PWC Inspection Service
J. Gerard Doneski, Lors Machinery Inc.
James Feil, Energy Steel & Supply Co.
Michael Francoeur, Joining Technologies LLC
Kenneth Frye, Air Liquide America Corp.
Bennett B. Grimmett, Babcock & Wilcox Companies
Steve Hidden, Miller Electric Mfg. Co.
Richard Holdren, Greenfield Professional Services LLC
Bob Hollingsworth, Consultant
Mike Jacobsen, Genesis Systems Group
Chuck Keibler, Genesis Systems Group
Ken Lee, The Lincoln Electric Co.
Greg Metko, Miller Electric Mfg. Co.
Andre Odermatt, Hobart Institute of Welding Technology
Mike Pankratz, Miller Electric Mfg. Co.
Dean Phillips, ITW–Hobart Bros.
Marty Rice, Dale Jackson Career Center
FMA’S CERTIFIED EDUCATION CENTERS
British Columbia Institute of Technology, Burnaby, BC Canada
www.bcit.ca
College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, Ill., www.cod.edu
College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita, Calif., www.coc.ca.us
Illinois Central College, East Peoria, Ill., www.icc.edu
Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Kalamazoo, Mich.,
www.kvcc.edu
Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
www. kirkwood.cc.ia.us
Lincoln Educational Services, Grand Prairie, Tex.,
www.lincolnedu.com
Long Beach City College, Long Beach, Calif., www.lbcc.edu
Louisiana Technical College, Greater Acadiana Region 4,
www.greateracadianaregion.net
Manufacturing Technology Academy, Traverse City, Mich.
www.mta.tc
Minuteman Regional Technical High School, Lexington, Mass.
www.minuteman.org
Moraine Park Technical College, West Bend, Wis.,
www.morainepark.edu
Pell City High School, Pell City, Ala., www.pellcityhigh.net
Renton Technical College, Renton, Wash., www.rtc.edu
Rock Valley College, Rockford, Ill., www.rockvalleycollege.edu
Thomas Nelson Community College, Hampton, Va., www.tncc.edu
BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS
AUDIT OF CIRCULATION
