This is a REALLY interesting article - not just because it involves the Boy Scouts, with which I'm involved, but also because it elaborates on WHY the Scouts are interested in training their scouts to weld. It seems that the opportunities for welders are enormous, and the auto and pipeline industries are desperate. A 4 year welding specialist starts at more than $100,000/year - compared to half that for the average American annual income.
Good read. Good career skill.
To always be prepared, Boy Scouts start welding
More than 140,000 new welders will be needed by 2019 to replace retirees and meet rising demand
By Ernest Scheyder
Reuters.com
updated 5/30/2012 11:07:15 AM ET
SOMERSWORTH, New Hampshire — It's not quite fly fishing or hiking, but welding is the latest merit badge Boy Scouts can earn - part of a full-court press to attract fresh talent to the critical occupation.
More than 140,000 new welders will be needed by 2019 to replace retirees and meet rising demand from natural gas drillers, steel producers, automakers and more, according to the American Welding Society (AWS).
The group helped the Boy Scouts of America award its first welding merit badge in March, hoping to offset waning interest in welding due to a cultural focus on four-year liberal arts degrees at the expense of community colleges and trade schools, industry experts say.
"The Scouts start realizing that welding could lead to a viable career," said Sam Gentry of the AWS. "It's not just something to fix a fence."
Among the roughly 450,000 U.S. welders, the average age is 55, and fewer than 20 percent are under the age of 35, according to AWS data.
Starting pay for welders is $45,000 per year. Welding engineers - those with advanced degrees - typically have a starting annual salary of $100,000.
Contrast that with the median U.S. annual household income of $49,445, according to the Census Bureau.
Much more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47615409/ns/business-careers/
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