Viewpoints: Industrial Welding Blog
Welcome to the Viewpoints blog where you can read about topics affecting the business of welding and voice
your opinion on the issues. Hear and be heard on today’s most important welding issues.
Don’t see a blog topic that addresses your concern? Just click on the Suggest a Topic graphic to right to
submit your ideas!
June 16th, 2009
The economy has forced many companies out of business recently, and many people are out of work, but there is still welding to be done. This may present an opportunity for enterprising individuals who can achieve a high level of efficiency, quality and productivity.
Starting your own small weld shop could provide the advantage of reduced overhead and employment-related costs that can burden larger shops. A leaner, more responsive shop can often provide a quicker turn around on orders and find profit in one-off projects that would be a wash for other shops. Read the rest of this entry »
June 2nd, 2009
Most of us have a hard time defining why we are passionate about the things that we are passionate about. For those in the skilled trades, it often has something to do with the rewards of working with your hands, the intellectual stimulation of solving practical design challenges and seeing the tangible results of your labor at the end of the day.
The unfortunate reality, however, is that our educational system often leads students to believe that the skilled trades exist as career options for those students who can’t get admitted a traditional university. Read the rest of this entry »
May 12th, 2009
According to some experts, we’re on the verge of a ‘green revolution’ — a time when environmentally friendly products and practices will not only make good environmental sense, they will also make good business sense.
According to an ongoing series in the New York Times, new software, sensors, materials and information delivery systems are providing the opportunity to build more environmentally friendly (and safer) roads, bridges, buildings and other infrastructure projects. Read the rest of this entry »
April 30th, 2009
Just over a year ago we published a blog topic from the 2008 CONEXPO/CON-AGG trade show. The construction industry had shown signs of decline, but record attendance at the show and a sense of optimism among attendees gave us hope that investment in the nation’s infrastructure and other related sectors would offer some respite from the ongoing housing crisis.
Undoubtedly, it has been a rough year since that show. Construction industry giants like Caterpillar and Oshkosh Corporation have laid off thousands of workers. Construction on many active projects has slowed or even stopped. Cities and villages that rely on tax revenues from new construction projects are struggling to fund services. Even construction magazines that rely on advertising revenues from construction companies like Caterpillar and Oshkosh have begun closing their doors. Read the rest of this entry »
April 14th, 2009
Most people understand the need to convince high school students that the skilled trades offer financially and personally rewarding career paths. While the problem is obvious, figuring out how we got away from the skilled trades and how to get back on track is a little trickier.
Recently, a professional educator offered Miller the following thoughts on the state of high school trades education.
According to the instructor,
“High school educators continue to persist in lowering the standards by using the remaining craft training as a place where they place failing students, special needs students, or the school trouble makers … Good students, who would make excellent craftsman, are discouraged and even belittled for wanting to choose a trade where they will sweat and get dirty to make a living.” Read the rest of this entry »
April 1st, 2009
Whether you’re employed or not, job hunting is never a fun process. Facing rejection is always difficult, and right now the competition for available welding jobs is as stiff as it has been in years, if not decades.
On the bright side, the Internet offers a wealth of resources and opportunities for job seekers, particularly those willing to travel. In addition to Web sites dedicated specifically to matching welders and employers, many reputable organizations — such as the American Welding Society and the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association — maintain online job boards for their members. Read the rest of this entry »
March 11th, 2009
It’s no secret that jobs in the welding industry are becoming scarce. The latest estimates show the U.S. economy lost 651,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate rose to 8.1 percent. Behind those numbers are real people, many of them skilled welders, facing real struggles to feed their families and pay their bills.
Although it will certainly take longer than anyone would like, the billions of dollars approved for distribution in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) will soon funnel down through the federal government into state and local projects that require skilled welders. Read the rest of this entry »
February 24th, 2009
It’s hard to get away from the troubled economy these days.
From the president’s stimulus package to the automakers’ bailout to the effort to reduce home foreclosures, there’s no shortage of worrisome economic news and chattering policy wonks assigning blame and offering gloomy predictions.
But enough with the Washington think tank talking heads and partisan political pundits — they get more than enough time to make their opinions known. Read the rest of this entry »
February 10th, 2009
“Welder shortage?” you might be asking yourself, “what welder shortage?”
With extraordinary efficiency, the economic downturn has in a few short months converted a shortage to a surplus, according to many experts and street-level observers. That doesn’t mean, however, that employers should abandon all recruitment efforts or that prospective welders should look to other career opportunities. Read the rest of this entry »
January 27th, 2009
For contractors, fabricators and other companies that must submit bids for jobs, the ongoing economic crisis means that there will be fewer jobs available and more competitors bidding. Staying competitive will be more difficult and more vital to survival than ever before.
Smaller companies will be in the most trouble, as large companies that might have considered a contract too small in the past start realizing that no contract is too small right now. These larger companies often have efficiencies of scale built into their labor pool that allow them to submit lower prices than their smaller competitors. Read the rest of this entry »
