Page 23 - HIWT Fall 2012 World of Welding

hiwt@welding.org HOBART INSTITUTE OF WELDING TECHNOLOGY

NEED FOR WELDERS HEADLINES THE NEWS

HELP WANTED
Welding… and the demand for welders… continues to make Welders
headline news across the country. In July, Shenna Stout for MIG Welders
KTXS TV12 in Brownwood, Texas, filed a report indicating,

“Now, more than ever, Brown County (TX) has a high demand TIG Welders
for welders.” Fitters
Pipewelders
Shenna says, “Brownwood has always been an area of Structural welders
high industry, but there is another reason why welders are Maintenance welders
desparately needed.” In Midland and Odessa, the oil and
gas industry and related companies are seeing an increase in Weld Technicians
employment and there is an ongoing demand for welders. Certifi ed Welding Inspectors

The Pittsburgh (PA) Business Times headlines an article on If you are reading this article… if you are in a dead-end job
July 20, 2012: “Demand high for welders in region’s oil and or still in high school… or someone that has a position of
gas industry.” Tracy Carbasho reports, “Companies moving infl uence with young men and women… know that the demand
into the region to support the oil and gas industry are luring for welders is not going to disappear anytime soon. Look
experienced welders away from local employers with the into attending Hobart Institute of Welding Technology as an
promise of a better salary.” This, of course, leaves a gap and alternative to a four-year college. Or encourage someone else
a demand for welders with local steel fabricators and others in to consider expanding their skills in welding. On a daily basis,
addition to the jobs in the oil industry. Hobart Institute receives more job opening requests than our

current enrollment is able to fulfill. Help us spread the word.
In Nebraska, the Columbus Telegram tells us that wind Good jobs are available to those with training!
turbine manufacturing and fabricators alike have a need for
welders. Tyler Ellyson states, “According to the Nebraska
Department of Labor, the demand for welders is expected
to increase by more that 6 percent between 2008 and 2018
in northeast Nebraska.” He continues that “The average
northeast Nebraska welder makes $16.79 an hour, according
to the Department of Labor.”
The Capital Times of Madison, Wisconsin, reports that

employers in Wisconsin can’t find workers with the needed
skills. Reporter Todd Finkelmeyer interviewed Deb and Dan
Carey of the New Glarus Brewing Co. Deb, who is founder
and president of the brewery says, “We really have a hard time

finding skilled labor and those with general hands-on work
skills.”
Master brewer, Dan Carey says, “A big part of the problem
is that a lot of the really good maintenance technicians are in
their 50s or early 60s. These are the people who basically built
the country, the roads and the bridges – and they’re all retiring

and there’s nobody below them to fill in that gap.”

“In Demand, and Demanding More.” This headline of an
article by Robert Brooks in Welding Magazine, summarizes
the welder shortage in a variety of industries including auto
parts manufacturers, shipyards, construction contractors, oil
and gas pipelines, power plants, and refineries, many of which

“pay handsomely for capable workers.”

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