A hot career

A national shortage of welders is expected in the near future as many workers are nearing retirement, but local business officials say they are already feeling the pinch.

The industry is predicted to have a shortage of more than 375,000 skilled welding professionals over the next three years, according to the American Welding Society.

The average age of a welder is 55, and the coming wave of retirements is expected to leave the U.S. with a short supply of skilled workers.

Duesway Inc. of Celina is a smaller firm making bulk feed equipment that competes with much larger companies such as Crown Equipment Corp. and Joint Systems Manufacturing Center to hire qualified candidates, operations manager Brian Westgerdes said.

"We could hire right now, but they don't seem to be out there," he said.

"We're all trying to pull from the same pool," said Jonathan Nicholas, senior human resources representative for General Land Systems, which operates JSMC, the Lima tank plant.

Local industry leaders agreed a phobia surrounding these available jobs drives young workers to pursue other careers.

"The trend in school is they push for a college education," Pohlman said.

These jobs don't require a college degree, but people doing skilled-labor jobs such as welding can be well paid, he added.

Once they find a job they like, welders remain loyal to their employers because they offer good wages and benefits that are competitive with the other manufacturers, MS Welding owner Chris Holdheide and general manager Kevin Pohlman said.

This fear of pursuing skilled-labor jobs has been gradually fading, Tri Star Career Compact Director Tim Buschur said.

"There's still some of that, but they're not pushing a college education as much, so it's not near as bad," he said, adding the proof is in Tri Star's welding enrollment numbers.

The program increased from 43 students last year to close to 50 this year.

Fort Recovery seniors Kegan Timmerman and Jason Siefring grew up on a farm and said welding seemed like a good fit because they can work with their hands instead of sitting in front of a desk all day.

However, more welders are retiring than entering the field, welding instructor Brent Tippie said.

"Almost every day, I get emails from people saying we're looking for someone reliable who's going to show up and is willing to work hard," he added.

Students in Tippie's welding class recognize they are more than likely to find a job right out of school and are eager to launch their careers.

"All doors are open right now and everywhere is on the table," Timmerman said.

"If you can show up on time, these high school kids are able to make $45,000 right off the gate," Tippie said, noting their interest in a skilled-labor career suggests that times have changed.

"It says more that times have changed. People are realizing that a college degree doesn't guarantee them anything in life. It doesn't guarantee you a big fancy house or a white picket fence. The only way you get these things is going out there and working for them," he continued.

Another changing trend in the industry is more women stepping into the previously male-dominated field.

"It's not male dominated any more. The class list next year has a bunch of females on there," Tippie said.

Business such as General Dynamics Land Systems are doing whatever they can to attract these vocational school graduates.

"We've created a partnership with JobsOhio and have worked with schools like Vantage (Career Center, Van Wert) to provide more training to people," Nicholas said.

"Anybody that comes through Tri Star definitely meets our standards," he added.