For more than a year now, manufacturers across the U.S. have been facing a skills gap: There just aren’t enough skilled workers available today to fill key manufacturing jobs – welders, machinists, industrial machinery mechanics, etc. According to one recent poll by Industry Week, more than half of the manufacturers surveyed said, “We need skilled workers today…” and another 28% said, “We’re okay now but the future is troubling.”
Another report by the American Enterprise Institute earlier this year said we will be facing “a future high-skills gap in manufacturing that could approach 875,000 machinists, welders, industrial engineers, and industrial machinery mechanics by 2020…” 875,000? That’s a lot of open jobs that will be waiting to be filled! Even as the economy continues to slowly recover, the manufacturing skills gap will continue to grow unless more people start to get the proper training they need to master specialized skills and to obtain the required certifications.
At Sutton-Garten, we believe we’re doing our part to narrow the manufacturing skills gap: We offer hands-on welding training classes. The types of classes range from introductory courses for individuals and groups to specialized/customized classes and training for companies doing all types of welding. We also offer certifications for MIG, TIG, and stick welding.
In addition to our welding training classes, our commitment to welding education extends to high schools in the area. Sutton-Garten proudly sponsors teams in the AWS Midwest Team Welding Competition each year. As proud U.S. manufacturers, we are doing our best to improve the current and future state of manufacturing.
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