[9YearLurker]

Here’s the answer on welding jobs: US manufacturers need to develop apprenticeship and training programs like they have in Germany, where skilled labor isn’t an issue:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303665904577452521454725242

[KC Burke]

Our young can’t apprentice at a craft. They are occupied for four to eight years running after University paper spending their credit to provide a welfare system for acedemics.

[Alberta's Child]

In the case I'm referring to, the employers have begun doing that -- in collaboration with community colleges.

What's interesting about the European model is that those apprenticeship programs tend to begin at a very early age. I suspect U.S. employers will face a lot of resistance from the higher education industry/cartel here, which insists that every American child should be destined for a college education and multiple master's degrees.