North America's largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event heads to Orange County Convention Center in October 2024. FABTECH provides a convenient "one stop shop" venue where you can meet with world-class suppliers, see the latest industry products and developments, and find the tools to improve productivity, increase profits and discover new solutions to all of your metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing needs.
North America's Largest Metal Forming, Fabricating, Welding and Finishing Event
Industry needs to transform how it educates its workforce in order to meet long-term goals and to maintain a competitive edge on the world stage
By: Dr. Jason Scales, manager, Educational Services, The Lincoln Electric Co., Cleveland, OH
Reprinted with permission: The AWS Welding Journal
The welding industry’s employment landscape continues to change rapidly. With shifts and more sophistication in education and technology, the welders required in today’s workforce differ greatly from those desired even 15 to 25 years ago. The biggest challenge, as employers have found over the past few years, is finding the right kind of welders to do the work they need to have done.
We used to be able to train welders quickly and simply. We taught them how to weld, and that was good enough to become employed. You could easily get a job that way. Welding has matured into an industry with increased automation, advanced equipment, and higher levels of required documentation and accountability related to quality control and code compliance. As a result, there is more specialization and a greater need for welders who understand more than how to hold a torch and join metal. That’s one challenge.
The second challenge is that of the shrinking welding workforce in comparison to the growing number of jobs available. Into the 1980s, according to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of welders in the United States reached 550,000. By 2013, that number had plummeted to 343,000. Recent bureau projections say the number of welding jobs will increase by 6% by 2022. However, the American Welding Society predicts an even larger increase in available jobs, saying the field could grow as much as 10%.
The industry is facing a talent shortage — something that is widespread across the United States. In fact, Manpower Group’s annual Talent Shortage Survey, released in mid-May, reveals that 32% of U.S. employers report difficulties filling open positions because of talent shortages, with skilled trade vacancies remaining in the No. 1 position as “hardest to fill.” And while it’s a decrease of 8% over last year’s figure of 40%, talent shortages do have an impact on business operations.
How do you solve the problem of finding welders who are trained to meet the demands of employers striving to remain globally competitive? How do you fill the growing number of open jobs when the workforce has shrunk considerably over the past 30 years? You need to break down the disconnect between employers, education, and prospective employees as well as the ongoing confusion between a trained welder and an educated one. They are completely different things.
Shaping an Educated Welder
We have to start thinking of welding as a maturing, changing market. We are seeing higher levels of specialization, not only in equipment, but in applications, and even more exotic materials, such as the increase in aluminum and advanced-high-strength steels.
I liken this change to the shift in agriculture. Years ago, most people learned how to farm on the job, from relatives. It was a skill handed down and picked up through hands-on work in the field. In fact, when colleges were formed through the Morrill Land-Grant Acts in 1862 and 1890, there were only a couple of agriculture degrees available. By the 1960s, the industry, as one that produced educated farmers as opposed to trained farmers, was changing. The science behind agriculture was new.
To meet the needs of the industry, agricultural education changed in the 1990s to address new specializations and has since grown dramatically. Now, when you review the technological advances in agriculture and how the industry has expanded, you realize how many different degrees are available in this area. There’s animal husbandry, agronomy, horticulture, forestry, plant genetics, aquatics, conservation. The point is agriculture has become a specialized field of study and employment, and those entering the industry need a much broader knowledge base than they did prior to even the 1980s.
Welding, and even broader career and technical education (CTE), are moving along this same evolutionary path when it comes to specialization and the industry-driven need for different, more knowledgeable welders, whether they are working in a fab shop, a manufacturing plant, or in the field on a construction site or oil rig. And each of these areas needs a welding specialist with different skill sets. The job markets are changing and advancing, but the education environment, until recently, has not kept pace with industry.
Both welding schools and employers are in a crux. Schools — career technical education centers, community colleges, and four-year institutions — ponder how much they need to specialize to address regional talent shortages, while employers need productive, dedicated employees in their facilities to produce a product.
When we talk about employability in the field of welding, and we read there will be a need for 378,000 welders by 2022, what does that truly mean? Are these welders who are only pulling triggers and burning rods? Or, does this number include engineers, technologists, robotic welding operators, mechanized orbital system operators, laser welding cell technicians, quality control engineers, and other more specialized roles required in present-day and future welding operations?
We need to ask ourselves who is going to fill the open jobs for inspectors down the road. Who is going to be capable of running automated cells, which demand that welders work in a very different way than when they weld manually? Having the right employees on your shop floor or in the field depends on education, not just skills training.
Consider this recent real-life example: An employer hires a new worker straight out of an associate’s degree program. The company also has an automated welding cell that they think is broken. The new hire examines it, reconfigures and repairs it, and has it up and running, using the skills he learned in his degree program. He came out of school with the ability to assess, evaluate, and fix a sophisticated piece of welding equipment as a “green” welder.
Educating Employees Today and Tomorrow
There are a lot of issues at play when you consider the definite link between education and employment. We keep telling everyone we need more welders. That’s not exactly the right answer. We need to ask who and what we need, and what kind of training do they have to have to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Not every new hire of the future will need to have a four-year welding engineering degree. We’ll still need welders who can perform manual welding processes, and we’ll also need operators who have training at a two-year institution and an associate’s degree. But one thing is certain, the level of education required for emerging technology must be advanced, not only for new welders coming out of school but also for those with potential on your shop floor.
I recently heard about a manufacturing company that assessed every employee on his or her skills, including the company president. It turned out that everyone needed a training/education refresh, including the president. The company ultimately spent more than $25,000 on workforce development.
Workforce development for manufacturers is a hot topic not only in the public sector but in government as well. Legislators at the state and federal level all want U.S. manufacturing to be competitive on a global basis. In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act amended the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize a grant program to assist community colleges and other eligible higher education institutions with funds to deliver education and career training programs that can be completed in two years or less. The Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College (TAACCT) Grant program received $2 billion of funding over four years when President Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act in March 2010.
The programs supported by TAACCT grant monies are overseen by the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education and are designed for workers eligible for training under the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers program. Coursework aims to prepare participants for high-wage, high-skill occupations and meet the needs of employers for such workers.
Numerous states also have enacted workforce programs and initiatives aimed to bolster the number of skilled workers in each state, sometimes with help from the federal government, other times from other funding sources. In Mississippi, for example, community colleges and universities offer a variety of training programs to keep the state’s workers competitive and up-to-date with modern technology and techniques.
Its Workforce Investment Network (WIN) operates a system of more than 60 job centers throughout the state. Each center serves as a one-stop resource for both businesses and job seekers, offering training services, job placement assistance, and career counseling. The centers are funded through federal Workforce Investment Act funds, as well as funds from other federal, state, and local partners.
Mississippi also has 15 community and junior colleges that administer its Workforce Enhancement Training Fund, which allows these schools to partner with companies in the state to develop a “loyal and productive workforce,” by creating custom job training programs carried out through the participating colleges.
The state has other initiatives, as well, including the Mississippi Corridor Consortium (MCC) Existing Industry Training Program, run by four community colleges and focused on high-cost training that results in immediate improvements in employee skills. This training is offered at no cost to the company. Welding is included in the program offerings. And, through the Center of Manufacturing Technology Excellence operated by East Mississippi Community College, participants can learn a variety of manufacturing skills, including robotics, mechatronics, and shielded metal arc welding.
Michigan is another example of a state that takes workforce development seriously, particularly in light of its strong ties to the U.S. automotive manufacturing industry. As the Michigan Workforce Development Agency (WDA) noted, as the state’s economy continues to gain momentum, companies in the state still haven’t overcome the challenge of finding “talent with the skills they need.” That’s why, in 2013, the state supported creation of the Skilled Trades Training Fund (STTF).
The STTF is designed to create public-private partnerships with businesses to design training models that adapt in real time to changing employer demand. The program provides competitive awards for employer-responsive training that enhances talent, productivity, and employment retention, while increasing the quality and competitiveness of Michigan’s businesses. The overall goal is to ensure employers have access to the talent they need and individuals have the skills required for in-demand jobs. Training providers include Michigan community colleges, licensed proprietary schools, businesses with exclusive training and equipment that is not available elsewhere, and vendors offering operation of equipment or systems they provided.
Eligible businesses that receive funding must actively participate in developing the training and also commit to hiring and/or retaining individuals at the completion of training. New jobs created also should be filled by individuals recruited through the program. Training can range from classroom sessions to on-site training at an approved location and even apprenticeships. All training must be job specific. Now in its second year, the fund will continue to assist companies in meeting talent challenges.
The concept of lifelong learning and development, from initial training until retirement, reaches beyond government programs into strong education-industry partnerships, where leading companies partner their know-how and technology with career-technical schools, community colleges, and universities. RAMTEC in central Ohio is one successful example.
RAMTEC, which stands for Robotics Advanced Manufacturing Technical Education Collaborative, grew out of a partnership among Tri-Rivers Career Center, Marion Technical College, and The Ohio State University at Marion. These schools teamed up with Yaskawa®, Faunc®, Honda®, RobotWorx®, and Lincoln Electric to operate a training center in Marion, Ohio. The center focuses exclusively on robotics and advanced manufacturing, and welding plays a role in the curriculum. Training is hands-on and intensive.
Training at RAMTEC reaches across multiple student populations: high school, college, and workers seeking to advance their skills, plus those participating in the center’s industrial training program, one that also provides them with exposure to robotics. The center now receives funding from the Ohio Department of Education’s Straight A Fund, a $250 million program designed to spur innovation in the state’s classrooms.
A $15 million Straight A Fund is allowing RAMTEC to expand to eight additional centers, including Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Cleveland, Akron, Shelby, Newark, and Plain City. Students at all centers will be able to earn valuable industry credentials and become productive, educated workers.
Robotics isn’t the only technology changing the way future (and current) welders expand their knowledge base. Over the past five or so years, virtual reality training has grabbed a strong foothold in both welding training and HR functions. Increasingly, more organizations on the education and business side are realizing virtual reality training offers multiple benefits and cost savings as part of a hybrid learning program and employment screening tool.
At Botetourt Technical Education Center (BTEC) in Fincastle, Va., students now have the ability to lay down their first welds virtually, with the addition of Lincoln Electric’s VRTEX® virtual reality arc welding training system. This system is just one of the advanced technologies BTEC students will experience in their studies, starting this fall. The center has expanded its welding program through the addition of a new welding lab, constructed with the assistance of the Botetourt County Public Schools, the Botetourt Education Foundation, Dabney S. Lancaster Community College, and a number of private industry partners.
In addition to the VRTEX simulator, the new lab features ten student welding booths, an instructor’s booth, a variety of welding machines, personal protective equipment, air ventilation and purification machines, metalworking equipment and tools, supplies, and a robotic weld cell.
Closing the Gap
In the end, welding is welding. You’re fusing two pieces of metal together. That basic premise hasn’t changed. But, we’re still finding new ways to do it and new tools and technology to make it happen.
So, you need to ask yourself this: What do I need to do to allow my business to expand and grow? What are my technology and production goals in the next five to ten years? Where do I want to be? And who do I need to have onboard to help me make this happen?
The last question might be the most important one because we need more than people who just show up to expand and grow our businesses. We need people who know how to not only weld but also think strategically and technically.
People often think the skills gap is one of introductory skills. It’s not. It’s really a middle skills gap. We don’t need entry-level welders who only know how to join two pieces of metal. We need our new people coming into the industry to have the skills today that would have been considered mid-level skills five or ten years ago. It’s the whole idea of exposure to advanced equipment, processes, understanding what is happening at the arc, knowing how to use geometry, and more. And to achieve this, we have to transform how we are educating our workforce to meet our long-term goals and to maintain a competitive edge on the world stage. The welding field is maturing into a diverse group of disciplines, and we need personnel with different education and skills than we did in the past.
FABTECH 2024
About the Expo
North America's largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event heads to Orange County Convention Center in October 2024. FABTECH provides a convenient "one stop shop" venue where you can meet with world-class suppliers, see the latest industry products and developments, and find the tools to improve productivity, increase profits and discover new solutions to all of your metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing needs.
