Quote:
Originally Posted by kane
Mike Rowe has been talking a lot about this recently. He was saying that right now there are about 3 million jobs in America that simply can't be filled because there aren't enough qualified people to do the work. This is because more people are going to college to get a bachelors degree and not going to trade schools so we actually have a shortage of things like mechanics and plumbers etc. These are jobs that can't really be outsourced.
Add in that we have twice as many people graduating with liberal arts degrees than degrees in various applied sciences and many of those who have gone to college now have a degree that doesn't really help them get a good job so all they really have done is likely run up a bunch of debt while going to school.
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We have partnered with the local high schools to entice young people into the trades. A couple of weeks ago we had 60 kids from an industrial arts class tour the plant. We had 2 fellows apply for work release jobs from that and they are both digging in already in the weld shop. It's the one very rewarding thing from my job. Over the years we have been able to train a lot of people in different manufacturing careers.
We also work with the local vocational school and have interns(paid) on a regular rotation.
Last fall we graduated another Journeyman Tool & Die maker. That's a 5 year program. And when it's finished the earning power is on par with most fields having a masters degree.
If more people realized at how much these jobs pay, I think welding schools would be filled. Starting wage for a fresh out of school welder is well into the teens. After some years of experience and if they are good welders they can write their own ticket. There is a huge demand for welders.