Editor-in-Chief
- FMA
- The Fabricator
- FABTECH
- Canadian Metalworking
Categories
- Additive Manufacturing
- Aluminum Welding
- Arc Welding
- Assembly and Joining
- Automation and Robotics
- Bending and Forming
- Consumables
- Cutting and Weld Prep
- Electric Vehicles
- En Español
- Finishing
- Hydroforming
- Laser Cutting
- Laser Welding
- Machining
- Manufacturing Software
- Materials Handling
- Metals/Materials
- Oxyfuel Cutting
- Plasma Cutting
- Power Tools
- Punching and Other Holemaking
- Roll Forming
- Safety
- Sawing
- Shearing
- Shop Management
- Testing and Measuring
- Tube and Pipe Fabrication
- Tube and Pipe Production
- Waterjet Cutting
Industry Directory
Webcasts
Podcasts
FAB 40
Advertise
Subscribe
Account Login
Search
Skilled at what, exactly?
- By Dan Davis
- July 15, 2011
Most of the e-mail contained comments about the current economy and the inability of elected officials to do the right thing. That can't surprise many people. However, one e-mail author asked a decent question: "You keeping saying there is a lack of skilled workers out there. What skills? Why don't you do your own survey to find out what skills companies are looking for?" That's a great point because "skilled labor" definitely can be defined many different ways.
Luckily, the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association's Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation conducted such a survey recently. The Manufacturing Job Skills Survey, completed at the end of 2010, revealed that every fabricator has a different take on just what skills need improving.
The 185 people surveyed cited "leadership" as the most difficult skill set to hire, with 14 percent selecting that one trait. All you have to do is read this piece about what hourly workers are accomplishing at GE Aircraft to know exactly what those metal fabricators mean.
Just behind that "general business" skill were "machining" and "welding," each with 10 percent of survey respondents claiming that those were most difficult to find among the available labor pool. "Tool and die maker" (8 percent), "engineering" (6 percent), "blueprint reading" (6 percent), "press brake operator" (5 percent), and "ability to read and write" (5 percent) round out the top eight most difficult skill sets to hire.
While this helps to outline some of the skills metal fabricators might be interested in hiring, it surely doesn't fill in the complete picture. Welding, for example, is one process. One manufacturer probably can live with only gas metal arc welders, but another might need gas tungsten arc welders because it fabricates stainless steel parts. As more shops diversify their customer bases, they likely want welders to be skilled in both processes, with further specializations required.
Alma, Mich.-based Merrill Fabricators, a division of Merrill Technologies, launched its own welding program because it wasn't getting people with the necessary skills from local community colleges. For more than two years it worked closely with local institutions to try to find students who would meet their requirement for welding a variety of materials, not just thin-gauge steel, and came away with only one quality hire, according to Jason North, a certified welding inspector and educator at Merrill.
"We're having a hard time finding skilled welders," North said. In fact, the company could probably hire an additional 20 to 40 welders in the next three to six months, adding them to the 60 welders already on staff.
The Merrill Institute of Welding is supposed to teach those employees basic but well-rounded welding skills. When classes start up in September, North said he expects 40 students to be enrolled in the nine-week course.
Merrill Fabricators knew what it wanted and finally decided to go find it on its own. That's going to be the same path many metal fabricators take that can't find the employees they need. If they don't, they'll have to pick from the general labor pool, and that isn't going to improve miraculously anytime soon.
subscribe now
The Fabricator is North America's leading magazine for the metal forming and fabricating industry. The magazine delivers the news, technical articles, and case histories that enable fabricators to do their jobs more efficiently. The Fabricator has served the industry since 1970.
start your free subscriptionAbout the Author
Dan Davis
2135 Point Blvd.
Elgin, IL 60123
815-227-8281
Dan Davis is editor-in-chief of The Fabricator, the industry's most widely circulated metal fabricating magazine, and its sister publications, The Tube & Pipe Journal and The Welder. He has been with the publications since April 2002.
- Stay connected from anywhere
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Fabricator.
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Welder.
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Tube and Pipe Journal.
Easily access valuable industry resources now with full access to the digital edition of The Fabricator en Español.
- Podcasting
- Podcast:
- The Fabricator Podcast
- Published:
- 03/26/2024
- Running Time:
- 67:51
This week on The Fabricator Podcast, Jason Becker, host of the Arc Junkies Podcast and owner of Underground...
- Trending Articles
USS Midway’s tuition-free welding program a win-win
San Diego landmark becomes floating classroom for student welders
K&S celebrates 50 years in business
Guiding metal fabrication’s automation transformation
Increasing revenue by applying production concepts to sales and marketing
- Industry Events
Coil Processing Workshop & Tours
- April 2 - 3, 2024
- Corpus Christi, TX
GOLF4MFG South
- April 15, 2024
- Charlotte, NC
16th Annual Safety Conference
- April 30 - May 1, 2024
- Elgin,
Pipe and Tube Conference
- May 21 - 22, 2024
- Omaha, NE
World-Class Roll Forming Workshop
- June 5 - 6, 2024
- Louisville, KY