tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post5069616414085279258..comments2024-03-28T18:32:05.933-04:00Comments on bensozia: More on Welders and PhilosophersJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-54612968286896584502015-11-13T10:47:06.453-05:002015-11-13T10:47:06.453-05:00"These statistics always irritate me. If ther...<i>"These statistics always irritate me. If there is a shortage of welders, why aren't wages for welders rising?"</i><br /><br />It's worth noting that the AWS isn't a union or anything like that - they're simply a nonprofit organization that attempts to promote the trade, ostensibly globally, but with a definite emphasis on the USA.<br /><br />In the eyes of the AWS, there may well be a shortage of American welders. But in the eyes of the industry and the economy, that shortage effectively might not exist if the necessary welders can instead be found in other countries at lower wages. <br /><br />For anything that doesn't need to be welded locally, I imagine Mexican, Canadian, and even Chinese labor is far more attractive, even with factoring in transportation and shipping of materials. Automotive manufacturing is probably a good indicator of this - anymore many new cars on the US market are typically made in the aforementioned countries, as American plants continue to close down and lay off workers. And it's important to recognize that industrial robotics are continually improving and replacing workers - a development the AWS would have a vested interest in wanting to combat.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.com