In Wake of Welder Shortage, Prisons Provide Training

Vocational training in prisons has been effectively provided to address welder shortage. 

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Why the shortage?

America is in need of more welders. Baby boomers with skills will be retiring, and there aren’t enough young people to replace them.

In the ‘80s, America had more than half a million welders. Those days, welding was as hot as welding arcs. These days, there are around 40% fewer welders.

The shortage of welding related jobs will be 300,000 or so by 2020, as estimated by the American Welding Society.

So what’s the answer?

According to Jeremy Worley, a welding teacher at a technical college in the North Georgia, there is a growing demand for welder. So he will teach welding to anyone at any age, from anywhere. Those from Walker State Prison isn’t an exception. As part of Georgia’s on-going prison reform, prisoners would be permitted to access heavy tools, blowtorches to get hold of a welding certificate.

"If it's an opportunity for me to dive into welding and they say I have a job here, I'm going to say, 'That's me””, said Christopher Peeples , 26, at the end of his mandatory 10-year prison sentence for his armed robbery when being 17.

John Turner, a former student of the prison welding program, describes himself as a really good welder. He was released last month, and had 3 job offers.

Gardner Carrick is in the Manufacturing Institute, the Washington, D.C. based training arm of the National Association of Manufacturers. He supports such prison programs as the one in Georgia. He said, "We certainly would love to see prisoners successfully reintegrate into the community and into the economy. So if welding is a vehicle by which that can happen, then I think that's great to hear.”

But that is not enough to fulfill the need. Carrick said, U.S education policy is associated with lack of skilled labor. “"We made the decision that all kids should go to college and as a result you saw the elimination of a lot of the technical programs at the high school level.” Carrick’s group is working hard for more skills training and programs that attract more teenagers to manufacturing careers. And many enterprises have kicked off their own apprenticeship programs.

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Welding Skills Gap Presenting Opportunities to Employers and Skilled Workers

Welding skills gap is definitely a challenge for employers; yet, it also presents amazing opportunities for many.

If you are working in the manufacturing industry, you have heard of skills gap. It refers to existing and growing shortage of skilled workforce in the manufacturing sector. This is not isolated to a single country; this is a world-level problem. There are some numbers thrown around. Though those are all estimates, they are scary enough. We will expect a shortage of around 500,000 skilled workers by 2020 in the U.S alone. As suggested in some studies, there will have been a shortage of 2 million skilled workers here by early 2025. This shortage is sure a challenge for employers in particular and the manufacturing sector in general; yet, it also presents amazing opportunities for many.

The skills gap is associated with shortage of applicants for manufacturing positions with proficiency in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Lack of those skills strikes many jobs, some of the most hit are: researchers, machinists, researchers and welders.

This shortage is created by some factors, and the main ones are:

1. Average age of skilled workers

Many more workers are retiring, posting the challenge of looking for workers with comparable skills.

2. Perception of manufacturing as a ‘dirty’ sector

By manufacturing, many of the young associate it with being dirty and requiring lots of physical activities. They prefer desk jobs that utilize software and technology to shop-floor jobs regardless of pay. There is a great deal of technology in manufacturing; we just need do a better job changing perception of this industry for young generations.

There are good on-the-job training programs, but there are still...

3. Poor on-the-job training

Just a few enterprises have excellent training programs for their workers. This is required for staying on top of latest technology and staying competitive. Investing in human resources also boosts up employee morale and lower turnover.

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4. Poor education of youth

A considerable number of high school graduates express interest in the STEM careers; still, just a humble number meet the required level of proficiency.

All those seem like bad news. It is, indeed. Still, there are numerous programs in place, and many more coming to deal with the skills gap issue. In spite of the challenges, the skills gap provides many opportunities to employers and skilled workers.

The skills gap provides many opportunities to employers and skilled workers.

Opportunities for employers

If employers can offer excellent internal training programs, they can improve skills and secure qualified skilled welders. This leads to less turnover and reduced costs. It will also help keep updated with technology and become more cost competitive in the market.

Opportunities for job seekers

For those wanting to land a job in manufacturing, this is also an opportunity. There will be lots of jobs. Still, it is important to bear in mind that there are many available vacancies isn’t synonymous that employers are lowering standards. Employees that excel in their trade will entertain higher pay and perks.

Is your enterprise already being hit by the skills gap? What are you doing about it?

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