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Is metal fabrication a good career path?

Their stories reveal the metalworking industry’s untold opportunities

Illustration of metal fabrication and manufacturing workers

The metal fabrication industry wouldn’t be where it is today without incredible talent. Their stories are worth replicating. Getty Images

It used to be that one left school, started a job, and stayed with it until retirement, often at the same company. That was especially true for positions in industries such as metal fabrication and manufacturing.

But the world has changed over the past several decades, and even more so in the past 10 years. According to a 2019 Bureau of Labor Statistics report, the average number of jobs an individual will hold in a lifetime has reached a record high of 12. And employees are now much more likely to end up switching careers completely, sometimes more than once, over the course of their working life.

Is Metal Fabrication a Good Career?

It can be surprising to those without exposure to manufacturing and metal fabrication that it can offer just as much in terms of career variety as other industries. A six-year study published in 2015 by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute found that while Americans consider manufacturing among one of the most important domestic industries, they rank it low as a career choice for themselves, and only 37% of respondents indicated they would encourage their children to pursue a manufacturing career.

This makes it clear that metal fabrication is suffering from not just an image problem, but toeing the line of a full-out public relations crisis. Combine the negative perception of manufacturing and fabrication careers with a lack of STEM skills in the current workforce, plus the decline of technical programs in American high schools, and it starts to become clear why we are experiencing such a dramatic skills gap, making it difficult to find and recruit talented employees.

So often we in the industry focus on what isn’t working, including all the hiring and retention frustrations managers in metal fabrication know all too well. But in truth, the industry wouldn’t be where it is today without its incredibly talented employees.

Consider employees at EVS Metal, a large contract metal fabricator with locations in New Jersey, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Employees have found rewarding careers in many different areas of manufacturing and fabrication, moving around between and within departments to find what jobs best suit their skills and talents. Opportunities abound, but the personal stories behind these opportunities are rarely told.

To that end, we’re telling those stories. To protect their privacy, we’re using first names only. Regardless, their stories reveal just how much is working when it comes to finding and developing talent in metal fabrication.

Brent in Business Development

Brent has been involved in metal fabrication for 27 years and at EVS since 2003. When he started out, though, he thought he would be an engineer, not a business development executive. His career began with a degree in design technology, and his first job after graduation was in the engineering department of a large metal fabricating operation.

Yet after only a year, Brent realized that he was more interested in the business side of metal fabrication than the engineering aspects, and by 1997 had been promoted to director of program management at the same company, where he oversaw several key accounts. By the time he was promoted to director of sales and obtained a graduate certificate in project management, he had increased sales by more than 50%, then by another 30% after his promotion to director. Brent was eventually offered a position as a global account manager with the same company.

“As tempting as it was, it required a great deal of travel to places like Brazil, western Europe, and even parts of Asia. Because my wife and I wanted to start a family, we decided it was time that I instead transition to a new organization and job where I could have regular hours close to home with less required travel.”

Metal sculpture at EVS Metal

One of Mike’s sculptures sits on a welding table at EVS Metal.

This led to the start of his career at EVS Metal as director of sales in 2003, where he is now the company’s business development manager. From an engineering education and a first job designing parts, to sales management and eventually business development leadership, Brent’s career in metal fabrication has included both opportunities for international travel and the ability to substantially affect the bottom lines of the companies for which he’s worked.

Michael in Welding

Michael has worked in the metal fabrication industry for more than 12 years, but that’s not where his story begins. He came to his career in welding late because, in his own words, “about 14 years ago I made some poor choices that could have seriously limited my career opportunities.” However, that didn’t stop him from becoming lead welder at EVS’s Texas plant within three years.

Before welding, Mike held multiple jobs—a tire salesman, technical writer, bartender, car salesman, and finance/insurance specialist—before being offered a job at a small welding shop with an owner who was willing to take a chance on a relative novice. It was love at first weld.

“I was instantly intrigued by the whole fabrication process and the idea of building things. I quickly began learning how to build custom gates, entrances, handrails, and whatever else came into the shop.”

Seven years ago Mike accepted a welding position at EVS Metal, where he began to take on more responsibilities almost immediately, including tasks generally reserved for more experienced welders with management experience. His willingness to learn and take the initiative ultimately led to his quick promotion to lead welder.

While he still spends some time welding, much of Mike’s day is now taken up by a variety of other tasks, including training new welders, talking with customers who come through the welding department, assigning jobs, meeting with engineers about parts, and even ordering consumables and dealing with purchasing.

Mike’s career as a welder has also allowed him to express his more creative side as a metal sculptor, with EVS’s full blessing. “I was able to compete not once but twice at the state and national levels for metal sculpture at SkillsUSA, representing Texas, which has been incredibly fulfilling for me on a personal level.”

Both of Mike’s award-winning sculptures featured abstract interpretations of the importance of family, beautifully fabricated from sweeping waves and curls of expertly welded and polished stainless steel.

“My career has had its ups and downs, but I wouldn’t trade my experience for anything,” he said. “Over the past six years at EVS, I have had the unwavering support of the company and the people in it, which has allowed me to grow as a welder—I earned my degree in welding technology in December 2019—and as a person.”

Greg in Engineering

Greg has been with EVS Metal for 16 years, but his career in metal fabrication started at a different company and “completely by accident,” he said. “As an immigrant with very limited English language skills at that time, my chances to work in any office were slim. I had a family member who was a brake department lead in a fabrication shop, and he helped me get my first job.”

After spending a few months as a press brake setup specialist and machine operator, he moved to prototype setup for several years before accepting a position at EVS Metal doing the same job. He was eventually promoted to forming department lead, where he was introduced to offline machine programming and automation.

Before emigrating to the U.S., Greg earned his degree in engineering, which proved invaluable as he advanced in his metal fabrication career. Because a typical day for him at EVS includes everything from overseeing bending jobs and programming brakes and bending robots to collaborating directly with engineers on part design, the math and mechanical concepts he studied as part of his degree—especially geometry and physics—have provided him with an important foundation on which to build his career.

“I like that it is always challenging; I enjoy having the opportunity to constantly learn new things, including software and machines. Plus, working with robots is always interesting.”

Lee in Management

Lee began his career in metal fabrication more than 22 years ago with no experience in the industry at all. However, a creative resume got him in the door at EVS, while a positive attitude, outstanding work ethic, and his willingness to do whatever was necessary to move the company forward ultimately led to his current position as general manager of EVS’s New Jersey location.

Lee openly admits that he wasn’t aiming for a long-term career in metal fabrication when he started his first position in the shipping department of EVS. “I became progressively more interested once I was already in it, to be honest. Over time I grew to understand and appreciate the industry in more depth as I moved around within the company and began to learn the ins and outs of fabrication from different perspectives.”

And move around he certainly did. After learning the ropes within shipping and receiving, Lee went on to work in almost every department of EVS, including different areas of the shop floor, inside sales, purchasing, production management, sales engineering, sales management, and operations management. He is currently responsible for the whole of the New Jersey metal fabrication facility, from scheduling to profitability and day-to-day facility management.

Said EVS Metal co-founder and Vice President Joe Amico, “In many ways, you could say Lee grew up alongside the company, which was founded only a few years before he was brought on.”

One of the aspects Lee enjoys most about his current job is the constant challenge of running a topnotch fabrication operation efficiently. “There is no typical day in metal fabrication. There are always new problems to solve, new scheduling conflicts to resolve, employees to motivate, and customers to please.”

Jim in Sales Engineering

Jim has been with EVS only two and a half years, but he has worked in various areas of metal fabrication for more than 35, starting with a temp position as a spray painter. “I found that I liked the different challenges I faced each day relating to the variety of parts coming through the department,” he said. That position quickly became full-time two months later, and he never looked back.

Much like Lee, Jim had no previous experience in metal fabrication before he was hired. “It was all hands-on experience,” he said. “I didn’t have any formal training when I started, and I learned everything on the job.”

Once he mastered his first position, he was promoted to production supervisor for the painting, shipping, masking, silk screening, and assembly departments, a position he held for 12 years. “My knowledge of different fabrication areas grew exponentially over that period. I was also given opportunities for supervisory training, along with advanced Excel classes and forklift certification.”

However, Jim knew where he ultimately wanted to be, and that was sales, where he’s now been for 22 years. But many people aren’t familiar with his specific job within sales, which is a specialty position referred to as “sales engineering.”

While it does involve selling as well as business development, it is also quite technical in many ways, with additional customer expectations regarding the technical aspects of metal fabrication design and engineering. Jim sees this as an advantage in his position.

“In my opinion, you won’t be successful in sales if you do not know the product or service well. Having worked in a number of departments on the shop floor, gaining many years of experience in different areas of fabrication allows me to offer design suggestions to the customer right from the start, instead of having to go back to the shop and gather the information. Had I just started in sales, with no experience in the shop, I wouldn’t be half as credible to customers.”

For Jim, a typical day usually means a lot of time on the road visiting current and potential customers. When not working directly with accounts in person, he spends much of his time tracking current leads, quoting new opportunities, and documenting his progress using the company’s enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management systems and software.

He believes he’s lucky to still enjoy what he does as a sales engineer after many years on the job. “The variety of parts being reviewed makes each day a little bit different than the last, which makes it very difficult to get bored,” he said. “I’m also fortunate to be able to work from home when I’m not on the road, and that gives me quite a bit of flexibility with my schedule.”

Danny in Finishing

Danny is a 30-year veteran of the metal fabrication industry, of which he has spent more than nine with EVS. He started his career as the shipping manager of a wet paint and powder coat finishing company, which ended up being tangentially related to his true love. “I was always interested in fine art and won various art contests from the time I was young,” he said. “I excelled in drawing and painting, in particular. I ended up taking a drafting class in high school, which I enjoyed, then went on to college and took numerous art classes.”

After a year with the shipping department, he made the switch to finishing manager, a position he held for another seven years with the same company. Over the next 10 years, Danny worked for various other organizations managing multiple finishing operations as well as shipping.

An opportunity in 2008 introduced him to EVS. “I was asked to manage the relocation of a purchased powder coating line from Mexico to Texas for setup, including design and layout,” he said. “Once it was ready, I ran daily operations as well as sales. I later set up two more powder coating lines, including one for EVS Metal. I ended up joining them two years later in 2010.”

Danny says that most of what he has learned came from a combination of on-the-job training and a need to be certified in a certain area of manufacturing or fabrication operations. “Over the years I’ve undergone training for lean manufacturing, process improvement, JIT, 5S, kaizen, Six Sigma, and OSHA.” He is currently responsible for managing employees, setting daily production schedules, and maintaining supplies and equipment for the finishing department at EVS Metal Texas.

Filling the Gaps

An analysis by Deloitte of Gallup and BLS data concluded that over 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will open up over the next decade, and the skills gap may prevent 2 million of them from ever being filled. This is hugely problematic for the industry as a whole, and the shortage is expected to negatively impact manufacturers in many ways, including being unable to meet customer needs, improve productivity, innovate, and expand.

This analysis demonstrates why the industry must work to counteract the sometimes negative perception of the industry. With so many positions in the skilled trades open in the U.S., and not nearly enough qualified workers available to fill them, we must showcase and emphasize the truth: A wide variety of engaging, rewarding careers in manufacturing and fabrication not only exist, but are ripe for the picking.

Shannon Eggleton is marketing communications manager at EVS Metal.