If you pay them, they will come. Blaming everything on lack of applicants is BS. There are always people willing to work if you are willing to pay. We like to call this system the “free market”.
On the other side of the coin, we have welders wanting too much money. Now they have some serious competition....
Just how much is a good welder worth that doesn’t bust xrays compared to a welder who always has repairs and rework results.
The probably is that the customer may not be willing to pay. Let's of American bitch about cheap foreign made goods, then flood Wal-Mart to buy the items they complain about.