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April is National Welding Month - be sure to thank a welder

Illustration of a pipeline welder

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At one point or another, it’s natural for all of us to take a step back and reflect on where we are in life and our career. Maybe it’s my age, the pandemic, international unrest, or a combination of all three, but I’ve found myself getting a little reflective as of late.

Am I doing enough? Am I helping enough? If I could go back and do something differently, what, if anything, would that be?

I have come to really admire health care workers and anyone else with boots on the ground helping people over the last two years. Not that I didn’t before, but I think COVID-19 just brought that admiration to the surface.

With April being National Welding Month, welders, you should know that you too are on that list of individuals worth admiring and appreciating. If you need proof as to why, look no further than 2020 and 2021.

You had to adapt and change during a volatile business climate. You didn’t have the ability to work from home (unless that’s where your shop was) and conduct business over Zoom. You still had to go into work and navigate ever-changing health and safety guidelines. Those of you who are self-employed sometimes had to change things up on-the-fly. I talked to so many welders and fabricators who had to pivot quickly when their commercial jobs fell through because of shutdowns.

If you ever start to question the value or the importance of welding as a career, I encourage you to check out some of our COVID-19 coverage not because I want you to relive all the fun the pandemic delivered over the last few years, but because you’ll find a treasure trove of stories highlighting the wonderful contributions welders and fabricators made during an uncertain time.

You, the men and women of the welding industry, have proved time and again that you were, are, and always will be essential.

About the Author
FMA Communications Inc.

Amanda Carlson

2135 Point Blvd

Elgin, IL 60123

815-227-8260

Amanda Carlson was named as the editor for The WELDER in January 2017. She is responsible for coordinating and writing or editing all of the magazine’s editorial content. Before joining The WELDER, Amanda was a news editor for two years, coordinating and editing all product and industry news items for several publications and thefabricator.com.