Posted on 04/22/2014 8:16:56 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
In American high schools, it is becoming increasingly hard to defend the vanishing of shop class from the curriculum. The trend began in the 1970s, when it became conventional wisdom that a four-year college degree was essential. As Forbes magazine reported in 2012, 90% of shop classes have been eliminated for the Los Angeles unified school district's 660,000 students. Yet a 2012 Bureau of Labor Statistics study shows that 48% of all college graduates are working in jobs that don't require a four-year degree.
Too many young people have four-year liberal-arts degrees, are thousands of dollars in debt and find themselves serving coffee at Starbucks SBUX +0.95% or working part-time at the mall. Many of them would have been better off with a two-year skilled-trade or technical education that provides the skills to secure a well-paying job.
A good trade to consider: welding. I recently visited Pioneer Pipe in the Utica and Marcellus shale area of Ohio and learned that last year the company paid 60 of its welders more than $150,000 and two of its welders over $200,000. The owner, Dave Archer, said he has had to turn down orders because he can't find enough skilled welders.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Ping!
Everyone thinks they can weld.
Underwater welding — there’s a handy skill.
How many years of experience did these guys have?
I almost got into that 30 years ago, wish to hell I did I could have been retired by now.
I live 40 miles north of Houston, Montgomery County north, we are growing by leaps and bounds. I wish I was 20 or 30 again instead of retired here. I was blessed to be able to attend a vo-tech school in high school in HVAC. Thankfully, I served my country then got a good gov job and was able to retire young. But was blessed to be trained in Electrical, plumbing and HVAC
I am a firm believer in Vo-tech training and deportation to open jobs for both inner city and other workers that take perhaps minimal training.
Where I live they are always 24/7 looking for welders, machinists, other skills. wow, the opportunity here.
I was glad for the welding I did in HS, acetylene and electric arc. Though I’ve always been more a theorist than experimentalist or engineer, thank God.
I set on that path over 32 years ago.
You get rich or dead.
I got neither.
We are short handed in most trades now. When I was framing houses there were so many guys, pay sucked. Now I am building mini concrete mixers, a complete change in trades, I cannot find decent welders with good work ethic, good quality etc, but, they all want big dollars.
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.
That’s a quite low figure.
Most everyone who really wants to, can weld.
It’s just that most who try are more interested in the pay than the joy of creating a good bond between the metals.
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.
Perhaps a, or multiple FReepers could comment, but seems to me here in California at least the “shop classes” were shut down NOT due some belief the four year college degree was essential, but because of frivolous lawsuits against the various school districts based on the alleged hazards of such classes.
There is never a lack of need for cement. I hope you are able to find good, honest, competent and realistic workers.
I’m amazed locally that most building trades jobs are now filled by illegal aliens. I suspect electrical and plumbing are not but have not checked that closely.
Since you had some training....do you know what an electrician charges per hour?
Anyone know?
a friend of mine has a welding company and he can get all the certified welders welding dual shield for less than $20/hr.
My cousin is in charge of a college that teaches welding and has a request from national Ship Building for 2,000 welders and their starting pay for certified welders is $18/hr.
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