I work with a lot of welding companies.
There is always great demand for good welders. A lot of these guys are making $100K+.
Michelle Obama knows it all. She recently said everyone will need a college degree. Like her husband, she’s so often wrong. So many young people would be so much better off as a welder than 4 - 5 years of political science.
The average age of a welder in the USA now is almost 60. Young people just aren’t being trained or getting into the field. A good well trained young welder will be in great demand in the future.
If you fail as an electrician you can always be a welder heh.
That’s just a tradeschool joke, but all joking aside, there is a massive shortage of skilled trades. I don’t think people realize what you can make either.
The key is “good welders”.
Also, to make that kind if money, most “good welders” have to travel far from home and their family and they work 7 days a week. In that vein, the article is a bit misleading.
My husband is a good welder. (I’ve been told by people he works with, not him). They say he’s one of the best they’ve seen. He’s been offered the chance to make better money, but he’d have to travel away from home and he refuses to do so. We have 2 boys and no amount of money is worth them only seeing their dad every few weeks. We’ll just live modestly and do without some luxuries.
That said, welders, even good ones, simply don’t make that much (over 100k) as a general rule.
However, I have a Master’s degree, but he has ALWAYS made more money than me. So, the IS something to be said for trade skills vs. college.