Meanwhile jobs that will never be outsourced go unfilled because we have deprioritized training programs for careers that don't involve racking up $50+K in debt before you even get started.

My brother is an IBEW organizer and there's three people in his Local who were JDs that just got tired of being lawyers.

I’m on the waiting list for one tonight. There’s always next semester in the summer. Anyways I decided to try it out at the local a Junior College while I get my my Music Tech degree. I’m already retired but it seemed like a good skill to have for rebuilding my vanagon. Being in California gives me the opportunity. Anybody know how this is in other states?

The tuition is something like $200 for a semester, though it's free if you meet income requirements. That in itself is not enough to make you "a welder" but it's a great chance to see if it's something you have an aptitude for and enjoy or at least don't hate.

That said, a whole lot of Pipefitters' locals will literally start you on a paid apprenticeship tomorrow if you can fog a mirror, with no waiting list. And obviously I would say that being a union welder is the better way to go.

My father was an auto body man.

My brother welds.

Dad taught him.

My nephew welds.

He went to school for welding.

by my mother. She learned welding in a Kaiser shipyard when she was 18 years old. She also taught me arc welding.

Since your mom had access to blow torches.

Well I guess it's good because it'll be there for the big demand but also like working with my hands. So it's comforting knowing that that job will probably be there

there may well be a drop in the need for individual welders before too much time passes, at least in industrial settings. Automation will be the reason, of course. Right now, there's a need for people with welding skills in many industries, but for how long.

On the other hand, small businesses can't afford the automated welding systems and will continue to need welders, but those jobs are spotty and there aren't always opening in any given market area.

That doesn't mean that welding is soon going to be a dead-end skill, but it does mean that the current glut of openings may shrink considerably in the next couple of decades.

Entry-level welding positions could be the first to go, as automation puts journeyman welders out of work. It's going to be something to watch, I think.

I took a series of welding classes when I was an engineering major in college, but never actually worked as a welder. I can still weld, and do when I need to, but I never sought employment as a welder.

Developing multiple skills will make him very desirable as an employee. Getting his welding certification (whichever one it was) is a great step.

Good welders and metal fabricators will always have work. No question about it.

Any job that involves a routine set of repetitive tasks is vulnerable to tech automation, AI, Out-sourcing, or In-sourcing, or some combination of the four.

There are no magical career fields. You have to continuously develop new skills every 3 to 5 years. This is the true value of higher education. It prepares you to learn new things very quickly.

Having to develop new skills every 3 to 5 years. Unless you are talking about acquiring skills an experience in one's field. When i started out in the HVAC field, i serviced and repaired individual boilers, a/c units, and boilers. Now I have the skills to install home heating and air conditioning systems, plumbing systems and wire a house.

You had to understand new models, new regulations, new safety procedures, correct? You're not working in the exact same manner as when you started, correct?


In essence, you developed new skills over time.

It's the only way one can advance. I started out as a very young kid doing basic chores on the family farm. It took quite awhile for me to learn the skills needed to run it.

Many years ago when I was in college I worked one Summer for a school that trained students in Computer Aided Drafting. My job was to find job interviews for them by calling engineering firms and trying to get our recent grads a foot in the door. The response was almost the same everywhere, "Why would we want someone who just does CAD? We send our engineers to class if we want them to learn CAD." There were very few jobs then for people just doing the 1 thing.

There is a lot to welding, there are dozens of types of welding. Becoming an overall welding expert would be more useful than just learning how to weld in 1 or 2 ways. Additionally, a lot of places are going to train their mechanics, die makers, maintenance men, or other skilled positions to weld.

Also, I've worked at places with people who just welded all day long, it doesn't look very satisfying at all to me.

have to keep learning. The days of repeating 2 years' experience for 30 years and a pension are looong gone. Itm, good to hear. Good jobs begging for people eager to fill them.

During World War II they worked in the shipyards building and repairing ships for the Merchant Marine.

My grandma must have been good at it. She kept working when the war ended.

Both retired with good pensions, but they were not healthy enough to fully enjoy retirement.

I'm certain welding was hard on their bodies since it exposes people to many toxic substances. Yet it's hard to say they died prematurely of work related injury since they both smoked and drank like the stereotypical shipyard workers of their time.

Occupational protections for welders are especially important.

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/weldingcuttingbrazing/

These regulations were hard won and a good reason to despise Republicans who think there are "too many regulations."