Measuring Middle-Skills Gaps within the Finger Lakes Regional Economy

WELDING

Welding is one of the few career choices that is in high demand at all times. “Over 50% of the gross national product of the U.S.A. is related to welding in one way or another.” 3 With more than eighty welding processes, welding is an increasingly high-tech skill. Since welding is used in almost every industry, welders have the flexibility to switch industries without changing careers. With demand for skilled welders rising and the technology of welding becoming more advanced, especially where automation is concerned, there is opportunity to learn a career that can be shaped around personal interests. Welders, cutters, solderers, and braziers work in shipbuilding, automobile manufacturing and repair, aerospace applications, and thousands of other manufacturing activities. Welding is also used to join steel beams in the construction of buildings, bridges, and other structures and to join pipes in pipelines, power plants, and refineries.

SKILLED TRADES

3 http://www.welding.com/welding.asp