What competition can tell us about the future welder

High school welding programs and large competitions bring hope that the future of welding is in good hands. matrixnis/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Here we are in early August, so you know what that means: back to school.

What? Already? But the summer is just getting started!

Yes, classrooms will be filling up in a matter of days or weeks. Your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, and neighbors will be back at it soon. Perhaps even you, the reader, are going back to teach, take a course, or embark on a new or second career path.

A heads-up: students, teachers, and education will get a lot of coverage by The WELDER. It was not my intent to go schools-centric, but that’s just how it turned out.

Fortunately, it is all things welders and shop owners should like to read and hear. I recently wrote about a rare opportunity welding students at two Illinois high schools have for earning AWS certification while still in school. How would you have liked to go after some credentials while finishing up your senior year?

In late June, I took a trip to Atlanta to visit the 2022 SkillsUSA Championships, the centerpiece of SkillsUSA’s annual National Leadership & Skills Conference (NLSC). It was my first real chance to introduce myself to the welding community.

More than 6,500 high school and college students competed in 108 different trade, technical, and leadership competitions, including three welding categories. The large gathering returned in person for the first time in three years following its 2020 cancellation and a 2021 hybrid edition.

I won’t go too into detail on SkillsUSA as I’ll have more to share in the near future, but I will say this: I was stunned. The work these students put on display in Atlanta made me believe in the future of welding—and you should too.

I chatted with students, educators, and representatives from businesses including Lincoln Electric, Miller Electric, Hypertherm Associates, Sledge Tech, Valmont, Clean Air America, and even Delta Airlines. More than one told me that “this is the future” when they observed the young welders competing a few feet away. They also thanked the unsung heroes that are the teachers/instructors who joined the students on the trip and, more importantly, helped the competitors tap into their potential.

Will high school welding programs, skills competitions, and highlighting student successes solve all the welding workforce’s problems? No, of course not. Excelling in welding at a young age will not guarantee a person stays interested into adulthood. Or that pay, working conditions, or something else down the road won’t cause the ones who choose welding as a career to reconsider.

But it’s a start. And it’s encouraging.