Welding for a living? Pretty good path or not so much...

My Bride and I had dinner recently with another couple. I was talking to the guy about how a lot of kids these days don’t want to work and want mommy & daddy to keep on supporting them. He then mentioned how good of a living a guy could make if he learned a trade. He said if he was a younger guy that had just finished his welding training he’d follow the nuclear industry. He said a guy could make 100K to 200K in 6 or 8 months. He said it would be 6 or 7 days a week and 12 hour shifts.

Now I’m sure someone somewhere is in a situation similar to what he described. BUT, is there much of that out there? I just heard on the radio a hour ago that there is a shortage of employees with trade skills because baby boomers are retiring and few people are filling those jobs.

What can a welder expect to earn? What about if he’s willing to travel? Thanks for the reply fellas! Mark

 

I agee with what Electra Man posted. It all depends on the industry, your training, your aptitude, and your drive.

BIG difference between "welder" and "nuclear welder". Aint no run-of-the-mill mild-steel shipyard welder making 200k.

 

100k is a stretch, 200k is a dream. There is a huge boom in pipeline work and there is money to made. But you live in a camper with 4 other guys and work 80 hours a week in the middle of no where.

Pop into a local welding shop sometime. They are caves. The welders are tough guys but they are all deaf and blind by the time they are 50. I can only imagine what their lungs look like.

When i was looking into trades i quickly found that the market was saturated for certified welders and most had work in other fields. I wouldn't pursue it.

 

Kinda hard to outsource it. In many cases it's hard for a robot as well.

 

A trade worth looking into right now is CNC machinists. There is a demand for this skill. I know my company is having a hard time finding people.

 

A good friend of mine welds on nuclear plants around the country, and he does, indeed, make a tremendous amount of money. I have no idea how much, but he doesn't want for money, and is off work a few months out of the year. He's also gone from home a month to 3 months straight sometimes. Another is an underwater welder, same basic deal. Might be home for weeks, and gone for months, but makes very good money. A few buddies own their own welding and fab shops, and they do really well, too, but there's a lot of stress and what-ifs in that business. Without a name to start with, starting a fab shop is a long road to prosperity.

I've got a degree in metal fabrication, but if I could start all over again, I'd go to machinist school, and take certified welding classes. That, or I'd own storage units.

 

Our CNC program at my School is almost 90% placement guaranteed, there are several kids making 60k out of the gate.

 

My field, Auto Collision has HUGE opportunities but like mentioned the kids don't wanna "work"

Our welding program is extremely successful with a 65 to 70% placement rate, but a lot of them end up in plants that will close every 10yrs, so I wouldn't consider it a "career" for them , but GOOD welders are hard to find, and by good I mean the guts that can weld tin foil together, lot of the guys that can "weld" only know how to burn the thick heavy stuff

 

These guys are the very top echelon of the welding field. While it's great for them, it's gotta to be held in perspective for aspiring student. Aim high, but be realistic. Probably less than .10 % of certified welders land this kind of work.

 

There's a huge need for skilled tradesmen. Welders, machinists, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, auto, and especially HD diesel truck mechanics, etc. I think someone needs to go into a trade that they like and have an aptitude for instead of only basing it on the $.

I think we're going to see a reversal of the $ made over a lifetime of a certain trades vs. College, depending what someone goes to college for. Engineering disciplines are I believe 6 of the top 10 salaries for grads, but it's hard & college for many is party time so most kids can't hack it.

The guys doing pipeline & I believe most nuke work are union pipefitters. 5 year apprenticeship and good/ambitious ones can definitely make good $ whether they decide to seek the work that requires travel, 6-10's, 7-12's, etc. or work locally. I believe current scale in Chicago is $56+/hr. It varies significantly and believe (?) if one travels for pipeline/shutdown (nuke) work, they are paid scale of their local and if so, it'd be wise to plan for that and apprentice in a city with a high scale.

 

My kid completed one of the welding schools you see on TV. He said the facility's were a joke and the job placement was even worse. However he did land a job welding making 15.00 out of the gate. He wants to do custom stainless tig work. Right now he is fixing cargo containers. There plenty of work out there if ya wanna go get it.

 

There is going to be a huge need for skilled tradesman. I have a mechanical engineering degree and could not find a decent job and became a union sheet metal worker 31 year's ago have my own shop now have diversified but mainly do industrial welding and fabrication very hard to find good help.I agree 100k possible 200 not a chance had opportunities in war zones that didn't offer that.

 

Iron workers here make 80- 100 k a year but your not welding in a comfortable dry shop on the ground

Had to Edit to add to my statement out here most of the trades can make 80 plus a year if your skilled and willing to work. Ive been a carpenter 40 years and there have been building highs and lows but if skilled there always work for you.
Right now they are screaming out here here for skilled trades electricians,plumbers,pipe fitters,carpenters,HVAC techs, etc

 

Wow, I guess after 50 years of welding, maybe I should stop. If I did, I wouldn't be able to build anymore Hot Rods or fabricate headers and chassis modifications and Buick GS's. Maybe I could take a job like teaching welding at Owensboro Community Technical College. Oh wait.... I already do that too.

Welding is a good trade to learn. The higher paying welding jobs usually are in High Risk areas. Nuclear being one of the most critical and dangerous environment. I have welded all over the US and if you are willing to travel, you can make a good living. Locally, here in Kentucky, Certified Welders can make $25 to $35 an hour plus benefits. I know of a few places that pay more. And I know several places that pay a lot less, however not all welding jobs require a certified welder.
I also help my brother run his welding business and he has a few guys that make in the $30 an hour range. When they travel to Chicago or Florida or California, they make a lot more as he still welds all over the US. Most of the traveling work is welding 16 GA. to 18 GA. Stainless Steel and Stainless Pipe. The crew that travels with him must have TIG welding skills to do what they do.

Go check out your local Community Technical College and see what they offer. Where I teach, we just build a new 12.5 million dollar welding facility and we have an AWS welding certification program along with robotic welding and CNC welding abilities.

Marv.

 

Welding Is the subject. Reality is all the trade worker are honorable jobs. That are filled by honest hard working Americans. Problem is todays replacements want Lazy Office boy jobs. Computer jobs, sales, Etc. Hate to say this I got more respect for the kid that loads my pellets (pellet stove fuel) in the back of truck, than my snap-on tool peddler. Caught that sob is so many lies & false truths you would think the ass went to collage to learn how to lie that much. He's not coming around here no more.

 

This is some of my recent work. Fabericated the frame/chassis and installed independent suspension. Cut the rear fenders down the middle and TIG welded in 3” to ensure that the wide rear tires were covered. Widened out the running board to match the fenders. Fabericated the stainless fuel tanks, motor mounts, and transmission mount. TIG welded up the exhaust system. Way too much work to list, but I think you understand I would not have been able to do any of this if I did not have welding skills.

Marv.

 

Looks Good Brother.... Never see a office boy do work like that.

 

About a month ago I was talking with a CNC machinist who had applied for a job with a local company (Arthrex); he was told that he was "overqualified" for a job as a machinist. He told me that shortly after that, the company announced that it was opening a machine shop in another state - I think it was Georgia. The reason? They said that they could not find qualified machinists in the Naples Florida area.
Part two: I read that a power plant construction project in Alabama (as I recall) was postponed due to a lack of experienced welders.