Why is there a big shortage of welders?

[Highland Mule]

• PPE provided
• 28 days holiday per year
• Company pension scheme

Fairly sure those are all legally required minima. Doesn’t bode well when the prospective employer things of them as selling points.

 

[Sharpy]

Fairly sure those are all legally required minimums. Doesn’t bode well when the prospective employer things of them as selling points.

Sounds better than "bare legal minimum of holidays, pension contributions and ppe"

 

[Lakesdigger]

Very roughly maximum £750 per week before tax and NI, or maybe £600 take home for a 55hr week? A mystery why they don't have folk pleading with them for a job.

And it says salary up to so how much below that might it actually be?

 

[Pistonbroke]

Our postman was saying,his brother is a freelance welder, very highly qualified and goes all around the country ( and the world ) to specialist jobs on pipelines nuclear plants etc. Earning an absolute fortune but got no life,no partner,no friends.

 

[roscoe erf]

Don't tell me.........it's due to Brexit isn't it ? That'll be it. They've all gone back home due to Bexit. I knew it. Brexit.

nothing to do with the last 30 years of running down manufacturing in the uk with the mind set we can get it cheaper abroad similar to what's happening with agriculture uk now

 

[tepapa]

I thought they were advertising minimum wage for employees at IW. But listening to an ex employee apparently they're not very good at staff management.

 

[roscoe erf]

Certificates aren't worth the paper their written on in production lines.
I used to fabricate forklift truck and don't have a single welding qualification.
truck was inspected and load tested at the end. If it passed it was good enough.

If one good thing comes out of covid it's the realisation that all the thousands of folk in offices don't pretend jobs are totally unnecessary. And it's welders and lorry drivers and electricians and road diggers and all the other medium skilled jobs that actually keep the country going are soon going to be more valued.
It's already happened in haulage industry with much better wages. I genuinely think the rest will follow

unfortunately along with inflation

 

[Hilly]

We seen this. Was on a contract working at heysham power station, when it was announced any one ( power station staff) could apply for a “ modern apprenticeship “
The weekly newsletter had a 40 odd year old storeman being the first to be accessed as an apprentice maintenance engineer
2 yr course made a mockery of what we had to do
As an aside despite government or industry and lack of opportunities, the computer age has finished a lot of skilled jobs.
Vickers had a machine shop a 1/4 mile long, row after row of lathes, mills, surface grinders etc.
Now a programmer can run them with cnc

I used to have family members in vickers , wht they make in their now ? My late father used to call late trained me. “ dilutes” old saying you can teach an old dog new tricks is very true , the younger people learn skills the better they become ! This is why keeping them at school until they are almost married men also dilutes their skills .

 

[Wood field]

I used to have family members in vickers , wht they make in their now ? My late father used to call late trained me. “ dilutes” old saying you can teach an old dog new tricks is very true , the younger people learn skills the better they become ! This is why keeping them at school until they are almost married men also dilutes their skills .

The old system which I was possibly one of the latter.. cut off age was 17 to start, they preferred straight from school at 16 so by 20/21 you had done your time, then you really started to learn
We did a year in the engineering training school with one week in 3 at tech college and one night school a week
Then we went “ in to the yard” where we were put in a different “shop” for a year with day release and two night school classes
. It was luck as to where you got put, my 2nd year was in the “ engine shop” working on the propeller blades for the subs, hand scraped to a thousandth then fitted in the hub, we also had the main gearbox, Sulzer engine pistons and liners , and nuclear transport flasks
3rd year “gun shop” building mk8 guns from ground up on a plunge that represents the deck of the boat , all loading mechanism below deck and gun on top
Also sea dart and sea wolf missile system plus the fh4 howitzer

My fourth (final) year was in the ancillary equipment dept, building and pressure testing valves and hydraulic systems for the shipyard boys to fit
Some interesting times for a young lad , but I only ever wanted to farm
As for these days I think it’s primarily trident subs
Stories abound of the “yard” employing up to 23,000 men indirectly, there were loads of small engineering companies sub contracting
Fairly sure there’s around 5,000 there now
Maybe I should write a book about the old days

 

[massey765]

Billy Connely did ok after he diversified

 

[Enry]

And it says salary up to so how much below that might it actually be?

that salary is £12/hr equivalent.....£2/hr more than shelfstacking in Sainsburys

 

[B R C]

£12 hr for 40 hrs then £18 for the 15hrs overtime assuming 1hr break during your 12 shift. 12hrs of welding the same stuff would get very boring very quickly. Totally different to working in a small engineering/ fab shop where there is good deal of variety. But if you don’t like talking to people and have no other skills then it would suit some people I guess.

 

[czechmate]

I did 10 years fabricating in our family business when I started work...
Even farming seems a good job by comparison

 

[Hilly]

I did 10 years fabricating in our family business when I started work...
Even farming seems a good job by comparison

It’s bloody hard dirty work in comparison to livestock never mind arable

 

[Hilly]

£12 hr for 40 hrs then £18 for the 15hrs overtime assuming 1hr break during your 12 shift. 12hrs of welding the same stuff would get very boring very quickly. Totally different to working in a small engineering/ fab shop where there is good deal of variety. But if you don’t like talking to people and have no other skills then it would suit some people I guess.

They have no hope at 12hr that’s a joke in this day and age , plenty up ere on the books at 18 welding .

 

[Wood field]

I did 10 years fabricating in our family business when I started work...
Even farming seems a good job by compariso

Farming is a piece of pish compared to a lot of jobs

 

[Hilly]

Farming is a piece of pish compared to a lot of jobs

Hence the money is crap .

 

[czechmate]

Hence the money is crap .

Seriously I often say that really is the reason. Folk will spend a day on a tractor....

For the fun of it

 

[Hilly]

Seriously I often say that really is the reason. Folk will spend a day on a tractor....

For the fun of it

Yes it’s a enjoyable job farming is .

 

[Hilly]

My father left school at 14 you did two year before you even started apprenticeship then I think iirc it was 5 years , then you automatically got the sack and had to go somewhere else , fantastic system every system since has just been a fudge up .