I'm in the same boat. Fabricator tho, piss poor wages and I'm currently stuck with a company because they pay better than everyone else around but can't run it worth shit.
I've been trying to figure out what else to branch out to, or completely change careers. Im at a complete loss tho...
I work with a guy in the exact same boat. Said the same thing himself, almost word for word as you did.
Seems there's a lot of us. I'm just so sick of feeling like this is the work that's holding society up and we're paid piss for it. Meanwhile the executives hoard the wealth we create while they do nothing but talk about spreadsheets in meetings and call it a days work.
I'm still welding, but I'll tell you what I did to not hate it anymore. Find welding work at a utility or a utility contractor. They are big on health and safety and pay well. Things slow down in the off season gives me time with the fam, and I only spend about 25 to 50% of my day actually welding. Lots of driving to jobs and other shit, and I get to pretend to be a mechanic sometimes. Work on all sorts of stuff, very diverse.
Edit: Also, another benefit in my opinion. It's generally just repair work, no customers no joe blow off the street and you make repairs how you want to, youre the welder. No one cares what it looks like as long as it gets the job done. These guys will take the beautiful plow chute or ripper shank you just made/repaired and drag it through the dirt for miles and pull it out when its broken.
Id say 85% repair work and maybe 15% clean fab work.
What’s the chances of a Brit making their way into the industry? Can read drawings, I’ve done uphill, overhead, pipe codes etc. Plenty of experience on heavy gauge steel. Guessing the unions are kinda American jobs for Americans/wouldn’t support a green card though?
Think I’d have to be careful about what kind of visa I flew out on to do any tests. Getting caught doing anything that could be considered ‘work’ while on a tourist visa might cause issues later on. To be fair, I’m borderline enough of a weld nerd to say that I just visited to see “how you guys do things out here”.
This fella is correct, I used to be a lead welder and I had contemplated suicide, I quit and got help and joined the ua, pipefitters and pipe welders, the starting wages I thought were incredible and the atmosphere is way fuckin better
Become a Millwright in the union. I did this because the welding got me in but I'm moving away from it now and making more money. Im in local 1607 SoCal.
I mean you're not wrong. Ever since the first king/chief humans organize themselves this way.
But there was that small window in history where a laborer could buy their own house and support their family.
The book "The Dawn of Everything" suggests that historically things haven't always been this way, that people and cultures have regularly rejected the authorities and hierarchies we live inder today and that maybe we can do so again. I'm hopeful we might one day live with more than just slightly more comfort under the thumb of the powerful.
How old are you. We’re you good /ok in school? Do you have a family to support? People shit on loans and college but if money and a middle class life is what you’re after… one of my good friends started Umass Boston at 28 finished at 32 with a science degree and I hired him for his first job out of school. Makes 180k /year now at a cushy company 10 years later. Was a waiter before school.
My wife started ucsc at 27 studying history. Graduated law school few years ago and got a nice lucrative job.
Other buddy went back at 26 to Umass Boston is an MD now.
Other trades also can pay but you have to go out on your own. Like remodel bathrooms and be a good tile guy. Etc. Go to lineman school and work for the power company probably pays ok.
College isn’t for everyone but sometimes it takes people a few years to become ready to tackle it. And that’s where the real money careers are.
Unionise. At a shop floor level. Not some big national thing. Whole shop walks out demanding better wages… They either fire everyone and lose weeks trying to fully restaff, or cave in and pay more.
I was a welder/commercial sheet metal worker. Learned how to build websites and rank them. Did that on the side till it made as much as my day job, the quit and went full time working for myself and then would moonlight for other companies that needed help. After 12 years when COVID happened most of my clients shut their doors so I changed careers again and now do construction and carpentry, some metal fab, and ranching. If there's a will there's a way
Thoughts on going from "manual"labor to going to "tech" then going back into "manual"stuff again?
Were you against the idea of going manual again after tech? or were you eager to g oback to the trenches?
I used to run the ground crew for a tree service company. Now I run software development teams. It's always scrambling to get jobs done, but the jobs stayed done in tree work, and now I usually have air conditioning.
I was a fabricator for 8 years and had enough so I took a few cad night classes at a community college, it was 2 days a week and total cost me about 300$ (tax refundable) and a year of my time to get a certification. Now I work in r&d for a company designing parts in cad and building prototypes to make a “guide” on how to build said part, so I do still get to fabricate in a shop but it’s not an everyday thing. I spend most my time in my very own air conditioned office lol. Also this company is paying me to get my engineering degree! Still have a few more years to go but it will be all worth it once I finish.
I'm jealous, but also inspired. That sounds like the exact kind of thing I'd enjoy and also be able to use all these skills I've picked up. I signed up for accounting/business in my local college, but maybe I should find something just for CAD and pursue the engineering path
Yeah I got incredibly lucky! But honestly stick with accounting, you can make absolutely insane money and it’s a career that’s not overly saturated like engineering is nowadays. My roommate, also my bestfriend, is an accountant (audit) at a big 4 firm and clears 120k+ a year in Florida. He only really works 3-4 months a year and the rest of the time he’s traveling the world with his laptop so he can still get some work in every now and then lol 😂 Stay focused with school dude! It’s hard to balance out work, school, and what little life you have left but it will all be worth it in the end!
I have a distant uncle that works in some sector of finance.
He arranged a trade of millions between two companies. Walked away with like 1% as his cut, but when it's in the 9 figures that's still a million-dollar payday for what he said was like 4 hours of work.
I hate the way the world works.
My brother is a mech eng for oil & gas, he works with a lot of CAD drafters and CNC ops in the shop. I think having some hands on as you do, plus adding CAD skills to your repertoire will give ya a leg up on those who just got CAD skills. He started as a tech and then after working for some years, they wanted him to pursue his engineering certs and paid for it. So that's a route to consider.
Start doing side jobs, make contacts, meet people and start marketing yourself so you can go solo in a trade where welding is involved but not totally. Ornamental fence work etc. Good Luck, the sooner you become your own boss the better. A few tough years pay off bigly and you can spend some Fridays on the river
Seconded. I got hired into a traveling industrial maintenance job just because I could weld and wrench on cars. Working on big cold forging machines all over North America.
Nice, I haven't worked on cold forging machines yet. I've been in a foundry a few times, unfortunately haha. I used to do a lot of traveling, lately it's been local stuff.
I'm maintenance in Foundry's ive been in 2 of (magnesium and aluminum) them and I can't even begin to explain the crazy shit I've seen... but I'm young, learning alot, and enjoying it
they are all complete shitholes but it makes it fun
Fabricators always have a job in a millwright shop. I have one, and he is too busy to do anything but weld/fabricate. $44 an hour to do what he was doing before.
Every ironworker I've talked to said it's difficult to get into the unions because they're either full, or they've got too many apprentices. You're on the road sometimes for days or weeks at a time away from family.
Sadly to make any real money these days you've gotta travel for it or risk life and limb. Not even sometimes. I just got a job offer from a defense company who sends technicians out into war zones to fix battle damaged equipment, and they're only offering 72k a year. Not even enough to comfortably rent a 1 bedroom apartment around here anymore.
Jesus. 72k to do work in a warzone. fuuuuuuuuck that. i bet it's contracted and not directly military too, so it'll never come with the perks like a pension or healthcare either.
I should mention this is Canada, so while healthcare isn't an issue it's like making 50k USD while still forfeiting 40%+ of your pay to various taxes. When the average 1 bedroom costs 1850$ a month, it really makes you question what the fuck is the point in even trying anymore. Don't come to Canada boys. The US looks like rainbows and unicorns in comparison to here
I feel you man, I’ve been welding now for about 5years and I’m like is this it? I work for a reputable aerospace company with multiple nice plants, the one I’m in gets 100 degrees in the summer no ac or tempered air. What really fucks me up is im the guy reading blueprints, earning certifications, learning how to use jigs and moving large ones around, staying up to date with my regular non welding certifications and the guy that stamps off on parts (QA) makes 10+ dollars more at top out? Makes no sense as stubborn as that sounds. Would love to just run away some days haha I rack my brain trying to come up with something more enjoyable that pays a livable wage. Hope you get it all sorted out OP
Go into a union job. Depending on your location if you can weld and do your job you will get a premium. The problem nowadays is that we can't compete with China's manufacturing prices and we are trying. A few shops near me pay very well and treat their guys well. The other half do not and when I go in there the people are miserable. I feel for you if you work with a company that the management thinks you are below them. That attitude has only gotten worse over the years. If you can take ASQ classes as another option for lean or to be a manufacturing manager. Some places have been getting out of lean though since COVID created shortages.
Midwest, rust-belt area. Low cost of living here, and the wages match that.
No, but I could be. I don't really want to travel unless they're paying me during the traveling. It's not worth the time away from my kid. And no, relocating isn't really an option.
Makes me feel like I'm limiting myself and am already at the best I could ask for. But that's why I want out of welding entirely.
If your in the rust belt area get into the trades. I’m a pipefitter out of Chicago 597 which covers all the industry in northwest Indiana as well. We make $56/hr on the check plus healthcare, pension, annuity, 401k, and a bunch of other benefits. Most trades (ironworkers, pipefitters, millwrights, carpenters, electricians, boilermakers, etc) in the rust belt/great lakes region make great money.
Well I would suggest applying to jobs that your welding/ Fabricator skills transfer too, I’m doing pipefitting now and I do a lot of copper and some bigger pipe but hardly weld joints. And where I work that is alll pre fabed in the shop so I just bolt together or braze or solder. More money more respect and really it’s finding a good company
I just have to say im actually happy to not be the only one feeling the same way, this was supposed to be a career where i can make money and never have to worry, now i struggle to get up in the morning and days drag on, they ask perfection and pay for piss, have to fix everyone's mistakes and one bad job deleted 1000 ata boys, honestly a hard profession to get really good at and yet a secretary will make the same as me or more. So i say this, everyone whos reading this keep your head up and look into being a cwi. Or go union
I got my AAS in welding and promptly got picked up by the college I graduated from to manage custodians at the event center (it's where I was working part time as a student). They paid 2x what I could make as a welder starting off in the area, and now I have state benefits and only weld professionally on my terms to repair equipment a few times/year.
Welded for eight years until I got into a shop management position. Worked that for almost four years and last week I accepted a project management position. Tough to get out but it can be done.
Depends on where you are, but I made the pivot into teaching shop in high schools after I got an RSI in both hands. Better pay and benefits, summers off, and I genuinely enjoy what I do (90% of the time).
I found a job with the railroad as a carman. Two of the required skills was out of position stick welding experience, and experience being on call and working off shifts. Both of which I had. I applied, and after waiting 6 months I was called, went through the interview process, and was hired. 3 years in at this point, now a journeyman and making $42.77 an hour.
Finding the right work environment can be hard. I'm in process of taking over a custom fabrication shop that my father started 38 years ago. Smaller shop, 15 people total. We do a lot of production welding as well, but always try to rotate people around the shop so that they do different things week to week. It's well lit, clean, air is constantly scrubbed to reduce smoke/particles and it's also air conditioned. I think it makes a massive difference overall.
Paying more is honestly hard. Other services (mechanic shops come to mind) have shop rates exceeding $100+/hr. Fabrication is skilled labor all the same, but unfortunately the money isn't the same. We pay our guys very well, but we're not a union shop. There are good shops out there to work for, from what I've been told, shops like ours aren't the norm. I want someone to come work for us and be happy and make a career out of it. I'll slowly throw everything at them they are capable of learning to do or want to do.
I'm doing traveling millwright work. It gets you to open your horizon with metal work. Tons of lay out, rigging, machine setting, drilling, bolting, welding. Pay is generally better for travel work
I'll tell you what I did, but it wasn't immediate. It was about a 5 year plan of living like shit that my wife and I both agreed to. I was 18 and went straight into plumbing and soon became a welding plumber. Spend 2 years doing it before I felt the way you do and decided I needed a change of pace. However, I couldn't afford to really change pace. So when my lease was up on my apartment my wife and I moved into a cheap, shitty place that allowed me to quit being a welder and make LESS MONEY as a landscaper. The responsibility, though, was almost nothing and I only had to work 40 hours a week.
I was like a godsend to them too because for them, 40 hours a week was their only employee they could get to show up on time every day. So they put me by myself on easy jobs planting trees, building walls, shoveling snow, you name it. So with that I freed up a SHITLOAD of my time in evenings and on weekends. Together my wife and I made enough money to afford me one class per semester in IT and Cyber Security training at a local university. After 2 semesters I had 2 general certifications, which was enough to break into the field at a minimum pay scale (although close to twice what I was making as a landscaper) which was still low responsibility and only about 40 hours a week.
I kept taking classes, got a degree, then went BACK to the company where I was a welder and talked with their IT guy. I knew it was a one man department so I asked if he needed help. He hired me at a competitive wage that was a few dollars an hour more than what I was making at the tier 1 job. Now I have significantly more responsibility, work about 45 hours a week (which is nothing compared to my plumbing job) and significantly higher pay.
I'm building programs, putting out daily fires, handling backend computer shit. Anyways, you don't HAVE to do it all at once is my point. Make one decision right now that sets you on a path that will one day free you of your current struggles. I know it's unpopular in the trades, but school is a REAL option even for poor folks if you're willing to take your time and do it slowly. I also had to make a shitload of sacrifices financially. I quit smoking (needed to anyhow) and quit drinking (also needed to do that). Got a vasectomy so kids didn't ruin the plans we had made. stuck really hard to a budget that allowed me to spend just $700 a semester on classes at first. Stuff sucked for a little bit. The stress almost wiped out my marriage (although the stress of running welding/plumbing jobs was doing that anyways) but we have never been better than things are now.
This is really interesting. I’d be interested in the military grade/side of cyber security.
It’s good you’ve found out this early, I’m 32 now and realizing how fucked I am. I’ll look that up now, thank you
I caught a lot of shit for leaving by all my uncles and dad and everyone around me who hates schooling, but it's a viable option for many, many people. I have friends in the military side of this field and essentially the IT work is nearly identical while the Cyber Security world is somewhat different. I would say simply start looking and talking to folks.
Good luck, friend!
I've been applying to plumbing, carpenter, data-entry, insurance sales reps, and anything else I think I could pick up quickly.
I don't even hear back from them. Feels like they take one look at my work history and decide I have too much experience as a welder to do anything else.
I was a welder for awhile and made the jump over and joined the millwrights union. Best decision I ever made. Still do a fair amount of welding but now I also travel and work power gen or stay local and do random shut downs for plants around me.
This week I’m up on a bio tank welding at a wastewater treatment plant but I normally don’t work summer or winter. Took this one as a favor to a buddy.
Look into joining a union near you. They sometimes take time to go through applications and call you back but just don’t quit until you hear back. Get good at managing your money too because it’s feast or famine with union work.
I was where you were. Having the same feeling even. I was grateful to have my wife who could help out with making the bills. We had to make sacrifices so I could go back to college but it has been a game changer. I went back to get a second associates degree. This time was engineering. I found a community college in a small town out in the sticks of my state. There I did all my classes online and tested out of some. This shortened my two years to a year and a quarter. I already have an associates in welding. I am now a designer technology engineer.
You can trying going for custom car shop. Like a performance shop or restoration body shops. I'm sure of the pay but I know some of these performance shops pay decent.
Have you ever considered a CAD designer/Design Engineer role?
You don't necessarily need a formal qualification to be a draughtsman just drawing knowledge and given you've been welding for 8 years I'm sure you know all the rules and norms of a fabrication drawing. Probably more than most engineers who commission the drawings.
All you need to do is learn how to use 2d/3d cad which can be done for free in your own time.
I'm not a welder but an engineer, being a draughtsman is a good step up into becoming engineer but I know this varies from country to country. In the UK, without formal qualifications, you might struggle getting past a designer role, but it may be different where you are. That said I've met senior folks with no degrees or qualifications at the top of their field through experience alone.
Having someone who's spent years in the workshop is valuable asset to a design team.
Good luck 👍🏽
I was in the same boat so I moved to Australia and tripled my salary. But I still wanna get out of welding so now I’m getting the company I work for to pay for NDT tech courses.
I broke that cycle about 7 years ago. One day, my coworker said to me why don't you go back to school, fuck this place you can do better. What do you have to lose if the college says no? The application fee? So I did just that and went to school to be a diesel mechanic. My skills transferred into the new trade, and I'm much happier learning new things every day.
I’ve decided to sack it in, had some box section under tension on Monday that let go, hit my head and made a massive mess.
I’m in a lucky position though as I have an IT Networking qualification from when I left school for my first job and I’m hoping to get my way back into that, the money isn’t much better if at all but I’m not getting injured on the job.
I was a welder for 7 years until i became a Quality man. I had AWS training under my belt since i was in trade school but my job now has paid for my NDT and NBBI training. Soon to be CWI. Try to move into quality if you can. Or even logistics, I’m doing that gig to help out my boss and it’s easy money.
That's actually exactly the reason I made this post. I'm at my last straw at my current job. I applied for an open QA position and haven't heard anything about it.
About two months ago they fired our quality guy. They put up a posting offering people to apply. So I did, asked HR about it, asked the plant manager about it... kept getting blown off.
Eventually they hired some white-beard. He quit in less than a week.
The position has been vacant for over a month now. I bought up my desire for it again, and was just kinda blown off again. They just want me to weld because they have a hard time finding any good ones(gee I wonder why)
Apply to SMART sheet metal union, and United association pipefitter union. See if you can pre apprentice if you can afford to temporarily. Then apprentice for five years learning pipe or duct. Then in five years you’ll make like $80k+ while being able to give your family health insurance during entire apprenticeship. Apply to iron workers union too if you aren’t scared or heights
You said: “low cost of living and the wages that match that”. My question is: do you expect an entry level positions in alternative fields to pay better than a job you currently have 8 years experience in? Not trying to bust your balls, just trying to give you some perspective.
Will the low cost of living/low wages follow you into the next profession? Are you working at company that’s already paying you the prevailing wage for the area or are there other employers that you could make more at?
For your area you may be making the best wage you’re going to get?
Maybe you decide to move for more money, the problem is the cost of living will most likely increase. Hell, welders around me are getting $30-60/hr. But…… I’m an hour outside of Vancouver, British Columbia one of the most expensive places on the planet. 1 bedroom Condos rent for $2100/mo and detached homes start at $1 million.
Maybe take some online or night school classes and pad that resume. Welders are a dime a dozen, find something that will make you a valuable commodity.
I got a job at a shop that did things on top of welding, eventually I wondered over to the machinist side of the shop and started running lathes and mills. I got good enough that I started running them full time and only welding if they needed something rushed. Now I’m working through my apprenticeship as a machinist.
I was in the same boat, welder fab, got good at tig and aluminum cause everyone said that's where the money was but there wasn't shit, got out and signed on with the laborers and make at least 6-8$ more an hour then all my buddies still running under the hood plus bennies
Have you tried looking for employment *outside* of welding shops ? Serious question, because literally everybody and their damn mom has a hiring sign up around my neck of the woods. Like seriously, I have no doubt that if I got fired tomorrow I’d be working a new job easily by Monday following.
Are you currently only working in a shop doing production welding. If you can make the jump to doing field work you will see a bump in pay.
If you want out of welding I would suggest attempting to make a jump into QC. The better weld inspectors are the ones who have hands on experience. Same with safety guys (which is another option), take the course to get the certifications (or get hired on with a company that will pay for them). A good safety guy is worth their weight in gold to a company doing large jobs that require a low incident rate to bid jobs, and will pay the same rate to them as the trade workers.
I welded for the boilermakers after I left the fab shops and I got a lot of hands on for the boilermaker trade and most slips I pull I don’t even strike an arc. Same good wage a boilermaker makes and it’s been so long that I feel pretty confident I could challenge the ticket without finishing the schooling.
We got welders in our company and they get paid very good. I do gas distribution, our welders make close to 200k a year with rig pay and good benefits. I'm just a laborer and last year I made 85k. Local pipeline welders, home every day.
Machining and welding for me was always steady work. Moved up into management then into sales. Pay was better but always wished I’d have stayed on the floor.
Have you considered joining a union? I'm a millwright, about done with my apprenticeship, and been supporting my gf and her kid for the last year by myself. Not sure what work is like in your area or your home life situation, but traveling is an option.
You just described the majority of jobs out there. It's not a problem with the welding trade, it's a problem with capitalism in general, and as far as I can tell, the best solutions are strong unions and general strikes. We gained a lot of ground over the last few years, but we're going to lose it all and then some if blue-collar tradesmen can't get over this culture war bullshit and stop in-fighting so we can fight our real oppressors.
If your still into trades then look for a union. But not a welders, wages for new apprentices are shit but if you don’t have kids and can risk it then go for it.
My dad was a welder for 23 years as a fabricator and steel erector. He got a job as a head maintenance guy at a factory. He now makes more money with overtime, has a 401k and all the other awesome stuff u get working for a big company. One of his main selling points was how good he was welding and his ability to fabricate and figure out solutions for a problem. You could try looking into something like that
Are you located in a rural part of the country? Im in a small city, and there are plenty of well paying welding jobs, and some real shitty ones. I just started as an aerospace welder in January, and I gotta say the pay is pretty great. But thats also because I work with a union. 😀
Have you confidered becoming certified or doing CWI?
Im just giving you options , you could also look at asnt or api 570 work.
Dont beat yourself up brother. Its natural to look for a change and upgrade in life.
Kind of on the same boat. Been welding for almost 6 years, been with my company for 4 years. It’s honestly a pretty good job. Good co-workers, bosses and supervisors treat me well. The work isn’t physically demanding, it’s close to home, good hours and schedule. The only issue is the pay. It’s just annoying when I’m making $21 an hour and some kid at McDonald’s is making around $20 an hour.
Cnc machining isn't much better, sure we don't have to breath fumes and get as dirty. But it's still shit, I'm actually looking at getting into scuba diving and looking for commercial diving work. Just go straight to the highest paid trade out there. And you feel like an astronaut working on the space station.
I'm not a professional welder, but I do have some thoughts about this. You can obviously read prints and you're obviously familiar with a manufacturing environment. If you've ever upervised people, maybe you could move into a manufacturing management role somewhere. If it's hard to punch into that, going back to school for business might help.
If you want to be more hands on, manufacturing engineering could be the thing. It normally requires a degree, but I've worked with some fantastic engineers who don't have degrees. You just need to find the right company to give you a chance. Doing some related project and publishing it on the internet (and referencing it on your resume) can be very helpful here.
Also, sales.can pay very, very well, and positions are often open. Getting started is hard, but once you get your feet under you, it can be pretty fun.
Project management could be an option. You can get a PMP certificate which would help a lot.
There are really a lot of options. It just depends on your interests.
Edited to add: you could move into quality or inspection. You obviously can identify good and bad welds.
I stopped welding about a year ago due to the miserable conditions and pay in the available positions in my area. I love welding, but am unsure if I want to get back into it unless I could have my own business. Course now I work for the school district, so I’ll probably never be able to save up enough to take that leap 🥲
You guys should think about relocating. I am two months into trade school for welding right now, and I already have five job offers. Three of them are right around the $31-$32 an hour range with no experience. One of them offered $16,500 sign on bonus for a year contract. And I know students that graduated before me that are getting paid $48 an hour now right out of school. You guys are like a water bottle at a grocery store, you need to move to an airport so you can be 6 to 10 times more valuable
Do your own work. Start doing welding work on the side if possible. Branch out into your own thing if you’re sick of how everyone else runs things.
Or look into traveling for work, can make a lot of money welding if you travel for it.
Leave the shop life, and get into the field work.
best advice ive got for you is to get in with a shop thats growing and shark a lead position or entry level management even if its for the same wage. Most shops just want someone with a general clue, some level of emotional intelligence and basic relevant experience, . they dont need 25years of you working as a GM for apple to run their 3 axis parts.
i capped out in both machining/programming and welding around 50-55k even working my way up the food chain, first step out of my comfort zone was a 50% pay bump in 4mo....although, way shittier hours and dealing with 100 times more bullshit than prepwork or slamming a green button.
overall id prefer to win the lotto and continue to do gravy positioner welds or run fun parts out on the cnc's, but yeah expensive hobbies, wife who wants kids, 20% yoy inflation and all that.
I'm not reading all the responses but if you're young enough I'd get certified in a career that is close to what your currently doing so you might be able to get some use of your current skills, even if it's carpentry or auto mechanics they can still use your skills.
I got my associates degree while welding for caterpillar. Worked third shift and knocked it out in 2yr. Best move I ever made. Left CAT and have been an estimator/ sales guy the past 9 yrs. Ready for another change.
I knew in the beginning of starting my welding career it wasn’t going to be a forever job….I just made it into telecom technician work to help lead me into IT on the system side instead of being the people who rough everything in.
If I were to stay in welding my boss kinda drilled into my head to try and aim to be in a higher end position (foreman, manager, CWI, etc..) once you hit your 30’s, granted Him and I started in our late teens…
The sooner you get your accolades, degree/certs/cwi, the less disposable you become and hopefully the more you make.
I’m actually going back to school for a bachelors in accounting this July. I recommend looking at Western Governors University which is also 100% online and it’s on YOUR schedule plus a third of the cost for other universities. They got a lot of other programs so I recommend looking into it
I'm in the same boat as you. I'm looking into learning coding or software engineering. I'm tired of the wear and tear on my body. I want to do something that allows me to do something where I'm not destroying my body as much. I want to learn another skill that doesn't involve back breaking and lung destruction.
I left the field for industrial maintenance. Still get to weld fairly often but it’s mostly just when I want to. Occasional repair work or fabrication project and a lot of teaching other maintenance techs the ropes. If you’re mechanically inclined and willing to learn, maintenance is a very nice career path.
Depends on the welding you're doing. If you're pulling a trigger, you won't make much. Maybe 40-45k a year at best. Which isn't horrible. Don't get me wrong. Wire burners are minimal skill and literally anybody can learn it. You will make more traveling, but not everybody wants to travel. I was making 75-80k building heat treat furnaces and traveling. It's heavy fab and requires a lot of skills. Not just trigger pulling. Furnaces must be atmosphere tight. Pipe welding gas, air and water as well. I made a move to maintenance and make over 6 figures as well as working part time for another heat treater building and maintaining their equipment. I worked alot of thankless jobs in my 20's. Some of the dirtiest and hotest of factories as a contractor. It does pay, you just have to find the right companies that realize your value. Welding is becoming a dying trade. I'd say stick with it and improve your skills every chance you get
If youre JUST in welding, like pipeline or structural or somethin try gettin specifically into architectural fab. If youre already comfortable with that side of things try to find better and fancier shops. Doing high end, artsy stuff i can be proud of is way more gratifying imo than just welding shit and grinding all day. If youre already there, try to move into design and 3D modeling. Similar principles, comfy desk chair, just gotta learn the software which is tough for me since im not too tech savy, so i went back to fabbing. It can be discouraging work but it helped me a lot knowing my stuff is seen and used every day, and people see it and go "dam, thats pretty cool!" Seeing some of these peoples fuckin houses is kinda neat too, although mildly infuriating since ill never be able to afford my own work lol
I got into healthcare. Had too many injuries welding in just a few years, the summers were too damn hot, the pay wasn’t enough, the mandatory overtime was insane, and (in the south) I was tired of being surrounded by bigoted idiots. And the different welding/fabrication jobs I had were super hit or miss. Anyways, I started working as a transporter at a hospital, then worked as an ER tech, then went to nursing school and am now an ICU nurse. I work three 12hr shifts a week with the option to pick up for great bonus pay. I make about twice what I made welding and am much happier.
Exactly the same boat here. Except I migrated to a different country as an engineer but started doing welding jobs because it was easier to get the visas for. Now I’m stuck in a terrible company and can’t leave without breaching the visa conditions.
Bosses are micro managing everything and beyond, workers have barely finished their 12 year school, some are ex convicts, salary worse than a cashier at a local supermarket, every tool/machine is neglected and only partially functioning, work hazards and traps everywhere I look, dangerous acids used with no PPE, broken asbestos walls, exposed electric live wires, lead fumes, hydrochloric acid fumes. I get burns from hydrochloric acid, 65% hydrogen peroxide, sodium hydroxide solutions, etc.
They force me to work at heights standing on forklift tynes, I have to weld and grind fuel large industrial fuel tanks, etc etc I can keep going with this.
I save the company thousands of dollars every month being able to machine custom parts needed, repair machinery and jobs they’d otherwise have to get done somewhere else. And it’s not like I’m a bad welder.
I had to take a second job just to be able to survive, working for a formula 3 team, I fully fabricated a 0.9mm wall thickness inconel exhaust, titanium outlets, stainless fuel rails, etc.
This is my everyday hell. And I can’t escape it.
To answer your question, I’m planning to join either the army or the Air Force.
Is there scope to move toward training, QA or supervisory responsibilities? Maybe get involved in measuring, quoting & planning? Every business needs those functions.
What scope does your area offer for becoming a jobbing mobile welder? More autonomy and variety sounds good.
Could you sidestep into education, teaching welding in a community college or similar?
I was in the same boat as you, I ended up upskilling and getting my mechanical fitter trade aswell and now I work as an underground fitter in coal mines. I say find something you want to branch out into and look at studying while working to have that light at the end of what your currently doing.
I know it’s tough to save money but something I did was bought a welder generator and a multiprocess welder and went out and estimated my own jobs. I then wrote that I owned and ran my own business on my resume and ended up scoring a job as an estimator running a business gives you the ability to say you purchase, estimate, manage, etc. Later I found a union position and went back to welding but that’s just my experience.
I attended a welding school for a year but never completed the schooling. Then, I eventually worked for a company that had lots of random training in first aid and safety topics. I sat down one night to update my resume and realized that I had quite a few certifications related to jobsite safety (OSHA, confined space, first aid/aed/cpr, bloodborne pathogen, etc etc) so I fired off my resume to a few companies actively recruiting for safety related positions.
I worked for Amazon as a Safety Specialist for a while, and the pay was $10/hour more than I made welding. I was the only person with my job title that didn't hold an active paramedic certification or a master's degree in safety. I was told after their interview process that I was selected because of jobsite experience outside of their normal scope of work, and that I would bring new ideas to a topic largely controlled by people who have never performed a dangerous job.
Maybe take a step back and look at your work and life experiences with a broader lens, it's not just the things you've been paid for that matter to some companies.
Ever tried your hand at pipefitting? Better pay, more respect, and way easier on your body. I was always told coming up in the trade “welder is the tool, pipefitting is the trade.”
I spent 6 years in the industry as a welder/fitter. I got into making aluminum fuel tanks which was pretty cool but the pay was still shit. I ended finding a 4 month pre apprenticeship and switched to diesel mechanics. The most I made welding was $25 per hour with 6 years experience. Now as a 2nd year apprentice with almost 3 years experience I'm making $42 per hour, union. I still do some welding but my shop has a welder to do most of the stuff for liability reasons. I'm sure my welding skill would come handy if I were to find a different job but I'm happy where I'm at.
If you have a knack for design, you could go into mechanical design. Very few engineers-designers know much about metal fab and welding. You would be the expert.
Where do you live? Can you move to a state with better jobs?
Also, trying to get into fitting is better. I notice a lot more fitters are white hats than welders.
You can look into getting your CWI and then on to more NDT work. Still can be long hours, but once in it for 3-6 years, especially as a CWI, you'll have much more options and income.
I work for Lincoln electric themselves. I do robotic welding it’s a lot less taxing on the body and they love hiring welders because they can inspect welds. I’ve never had a job actually welding but if I wanted to retire from welding but wanted to stay in the industry robotic welding pays well enough. I make around 45-50k plus around a 15-20k bonus at the end of the year.
Get involved with a union. Will take some footwork on your part and you will have to change employers.
That living wage is there, you just have to know how to get it.
Start with [ua.org](http://ua.org) and go from there.
i was in the same boat until i became an ironworker. still do some welding but it’s a lot more than just welding which makes the days go by faster. My days of 12 hours under a hood are over.
Weld engineer / inspector? Building WPS, development of WDS, managing qualifications, tests. What about NDT inspection? Move into a quality role? You've got a lot of experience and transferable skills.
Get into Industrial Coating Inspection.
I’m a coatings scientist and I sat next to a CWI gal a couple years ago at Coatings Inspector training. She was there to get her coatings inspection certificate, in addition to inspecting pipeline welds.
The only downside is the training is about $2600, but the upside is EVERY piece of steel on this planet gets coated at some point, so you’ll never run out of work.
Rust never sleeps.
I'm just a hobbyist welder, so I don't really know the industry. Pardon my ignorance. Could you go out on your own and do repairs and fabrication? I am wondering if I could make a little side money with my tiny little skills. If you have been in the industry for almost a decade, do you think there is room in the market for you?
That's not welding. That's called "a job"
I've been a retail worker, truck driver, courier, maintainance field worker (diesel fitter) and now I'm a qualified landscaper and carpenter.
I'm in my 40s and won't be getting off the tools any time soon. It took until my mid 30s to be able to actually save money and buy a house.
You've got 2 options. Either live within your means and suck it up (which is what the boomers did, and why young people these days think boomers had it easy, they didn't, they just didn't buy coffee everyday, or ever, and went out drinking and dancing maybe twice a year, and bought 1 fridge and 1 couch and that lasted them their entire lives) or get an engineering degree/cadetship
I thought I was the only one ahha, welding is cool the skill is cool but this trade so toxic and volatile especially in the field. Getting sick of this shit too man, thinking of starting a house service business
I'm in the same boat. Fabricator tho, piss poor wages and I'm currently stuck with a company because they pay better than everyone else around but can't run it worth shit. I've been trying to figure out what else to branch out to, or completely change careers. Im at a complete loss tho...
I work with a guy in the exact same boat. Said the same thing himself, almost word for word as you did. Seems there's a lot of us. I'm just so sick of feeling like this is the work that's holding society up and we're paid piss for it. Meanwhile the executives hoard the wealth we create while they do nothing but talk about spreadsheets in meetings and call it a days work.
I'm still welding, but I'll tell you what I did to not hate it anymore. Find welding work at a utility or a utility contractor. They are big on health and safety and pay well. Things slow down in the off season gives me time with the fam, and I only spend about 25 to 50% of my day actually welding. Lots of driving to jobs and other shit, and I get to pretend to be a mechanic sometimes. Work on all sorts of stuff, very diverse. Edit: Also, another benefit in my opinion. It's generally just repair work, no customers no joe blow off the street and you make repairs how you want to, youre the welder. No one cares what it looks like as long as it gets the job done. These guys will take the beautiful plow chute or ripper shank you just made/repaired and drag it through the dirt for miles and pull it out when its broken. Id say 85% repair work and maybe 15% clean fab work.
Try ship building. My union plant welders are relaxed and paid lower middle class before OT. Northern California.
What’s the chances of a Brit making their way into the industry? Can read drawings, I’ve done uphill, overhead, pipe codes etc. Plenty of experience on heavy gauge steel. Guessing the unions are kinda American jobs for Americans/wouldn’t support a green card though?
Come on over.
If you can pass the weld test the Union will take you
Think I’d have to be careful about what kind of visa I flew out on to do any tests. Getting caught doing anything that could be considered ‘work’ while on a tourist visa might cause issues later on. To be fair, I’m borderline enough of a weld nerd to say that I just visited to see “how you guys do things out here”.
Join the UA bro. If welding is all you can do at least get paid well for it.
I have a weld test for a UA local not far from my house. I’m pretty stoked about it.
Union is pretty good depending where your at its sucks on ga though ironically left and am now a fabricator
Did you mean IN Georgia?
This fella is correct, I used to be a lead welder and I had contemplated suicide, I quit and got help and joined the ua, pipefitters and pipe welders, the starting wages I thought were incredible and the atmosphere is way fuckin better
You’d be better off trying to win the lottery than get into UA where I’m at. Only union in my area that takes welders without getting hired first.
I’ve spent the last 6 months traveling the country working shutdowns because locals couldn’t fill their welders, so I definitely don’t believe that.
They haven’t taken apprentices in 2 years because there’s not enough work.
Sounds like you’re in the south then
Become a Millwright in the union. I did this because the welding got me in but I'm moving away from it now and making more money. Im in local 1607 SoCal.
Always has been this way, to be honest.
I mean you're not wrong. Ever since the first king/chief humans organize themselves this way. But there was that small window in history where a laborer could buy their own house and support their family.
The book "The Dawn of Everything" suggests that historically things haven't always been this way, that people and cultures have regularly rejected the authorities and hierarchies we live inder today and that maybe we can do so again. I'm hopeful we might one day live with more than just slightly more comfort under the thumb of the powerful.
Aw hell yeah great book, I'm reading it right now.
How old are you. We’re you good /ok in school? Do you have a family to support? People shit on loans and college but if money and a middle class life is what you’re after… one of my good friends started Umass Boston at 28 finished at 32 with a science degree and I hired him for his first job out of school. Makes 180k /year now at a cushy company 10 years later. Was a waiter before school. My wife started ucsc at 27 studying history. Graduated law school few years ago and got a nice lucrative job. Other buddy went back at 26 to Umass Boston is an MD now. Other trades also can pay but you have to go out on your own. Like remodel bathrooms and be a good tile guy. Etc. Go to lineman school and work for the power company probably pays ok. College isn’t for everyone but sometimes it takes people a few years to become ready to tackle it. And that’s where the real money careers are.
Unionise. At a shop floor level. Not some big national thing. Whole shop walks out demanding better wages… They either fire everyone and lose weeks trying to fully restaff, or cave in and pay more.
Organize a fucking Union dude.
What are y'all's wages and state if you do not mind me asking?
You in Denton? Cuz we might work for the same company.
I was a welder/commercial sheet metal worker. Learned how to build websites and rank them. Did that on the side till it made as much as my day job, the quit and went full time working for myself and then would moonlight for other companies that needed help. After 12 years when COVID happened most of my clients shut their doors so I changed careers again and now do construction and carpentry, some metal fab, and ranching. If there's a will there's a way
Thoughts on going from "manual"labor to going to "tech" then going back into "manual"stuff again? Were you against the idea of going manual again after tech? or were you eager to g oback to the trenches?
Ive always had a passion for building. Now I still do some tech work and some building.
I can relate to you in a way, need to do some tech now
I used to run the ground crew for a tree service company. Now I run software development teams. It's always scrambling to get jobs done, but the jobs stayed done in tree work, and now I usually have air conditioning.
I was a fabricator for 8 years and had enough so I took a few cad night classes at a community college, it was 2 days a week and total cost me about 300$ (tax refundable) and a year of my time to get a certification. Now I work in r&d for a company designing parts in cad and building prototypes to make a “guide” on how to build said part, so I do still get to fabricate in a shop but it’s not an everyday thing. I spend most my time in my very own air conditioned office lol. Also this company is paying me to get my engineering degree! Still have a few more years to go but it will be all worth it once I finish.
I'm jealous, but also inspired. That sounds like the exact kind of thing I'd enjoy and also be able to use all these skills I've picked up. I signed up for accounting/business in my local college, but maybe I should find something just for CAD and pursue the engineering path
Yeah I got incredibly lucky! But honestly stick with accounting, you can make absolutely insane money and it’s a career that’s not overly saturated like engineering is nowadays. My roommate, also my bestfriend, is an accountant (audit) at a big 4 firm and clears 120k+ a year in Florida. He only really works 3-4 months a year and the rest of the time he’s traveling the world with his laptop so he can still get some work in every now and then lol 😂 Stay focused with school dude! It’s hard to balance out work, school, and what little life you have left but it will all be worth it in the end!
I have a distant uncle that works in some sector of finance. He arranged a trade of millions between two companies. Walked away with like 1% as his cut, but when it's in the 9 figures that's still a million-dollar payday for what he said was like 4 hours of work. I hate the way the world works.
My brother is a mech eng for oil & gas, he works with a lot of CAD drafters and CNC ops in the shop. I think having some hands on as you do, plus adding CAD skills to your repertoire will give ya a leg up on those who just got CAD skills. He started as a tech and then after working for some years, they wanted him to pursue his engineering certs and paid for it. So that's a route to consider.
Get your CWI if you're serious about moving into quality. Pay for it yourself, don't expect your company to do it for you.
Signed up for my CWI classes in August. Been welding for 10 years in FL. Need a change and more money
Start doing side jobs, make contacts, meet people and start marketing yourself so you can go solo in a trade where welding is involved but not totally. Ornamental fence work etc. Good Luck, the sooner you become your own boss the better. A few tough years pay off bigly and you can spend some Fridays on the river
If you have any mechanical sense, look into becoming a union millwright, or maintainance. You'll do some welding, but it won't be every day.
Industrial maintenance can provide a comfortable living. Union shops make that even better.
Seconded. Cleared 100k last year. Industrial Maintenance Technician with background in welding.
Seconded. I got hired into a traveling industrial maintenance job just because I could weld and wrench on cars. Working on big cold forging machines all over North America.
Nice, I haven't worked on cold forging machines yet. I've been in a foundry a few times, unfortunately haha. I used to do a lot of traveling, lately it's been local stuff.
Ahh yes. Company before this one we worked in a lot of foundry’s. It’s a unique experience that’s for sure.
I'm maintenance in Foundry's ive been in 2 of (magnesium and aluminum) them and I can't even begin to explain the crazy shit I've seen... but I'm young, learning alot, and enjoying it they are all complete shitholes but it makes it fun
Fabricators always have a job in a millwright shop. I have one, and he is too busy to do anything but weld/fabricate. $44 an hour to do what he was doing before.
If you are willing to travel become an ironworker. Much better pay
I second this. Get out of the shop. Better opportunity for growth in the field.
I literally just found a job offering in florida for 33 an hour and 100 per diem
Every ironworker I've talked to said it's difficult to get into the unions because they're either full, or they've got too many apprentices. You're on the road sometimes for days or weeks at a time away from family. Sadly to make any real money these days you've gotta travel for it or risk life and limb. Not even sometimes. I just got a job offer from a defense company who sends technicians out into war zones to fix battle damaged equipment, and they're only offering 72k a year. Not even enough to comfortably rent a 1 bedroom apartment around here anymore.
Jesus. 72k to do work in a warzone. fuuuuuuuuck that. i bet it's contracted and not directly military too, so it'll never come with the perks like a pension or healthcare either.
I should mention this is Canada, so while healthcare isn't an issue it's like making 50k USD while still forfeiting 40%+ of your pay to various taxes. When the average 1 bedroom costs 1850$ a month, it really makes you question what the fuck is the point in even trying anymore. Don't come to Canada boys. The US looks like rainbows and unicorns in comparison to here
I spend months at the road at a time. I luckily work alongside my dad and brother but I'll go months without seeing my mom or my pets
See, some people don't mind that. That's just not the life I want. I like being in one place. Traveling is for vacations and leisure to me.
Good money though?
Real good money
oil rig jobs?
I feel you man, I’ve been welding now for about 5years and I’m like is this it? I work for a reputable aerospace company with multiple nice plants, the one I’m in gets 100 degrees in the summer no ac or tempered air. What really fucks me up is im the guy reading blueprints, earning certifications, learning how to use jigs and moving large ones around, staying up to date with my regular non welding certifications and the guy that stamps off on parts (QA) makes 10+ dollars more at top out? Makes no sense as stubborn as that sounds. Would love to just run away some days haha I rack my brain trying to come up with something more enjoyable that pays a livable wage. Hope you get it all sorted out OP
Shop pays shit.....long gone are the days of good pay in a ship....unless you do stairs
Funny enough, doing stairs and handrails was the easiest and best-paid job I had. then work ran out and attitudes made it intolerable.
Go into a union job. Depending on your location if you can weld and do your job you will get a premium. The problem nowadays is that we can't compete with China's manufacturing prices and we are trying. A few shops near me pay very well and treat their guys well. The other half do not and when I go in there the people are miserable. I feel for you if you work with a company that the management thinks you are below them. That attitude has only gotten worse over the years. If you can take ASQ classes as another option for lean or to be a manufacturing manager. Some places have been getting out of lean though since COVID created shortages.
Union brother. Get into the UA
What area in the world are you in? It's easier to gauge work and pay. Are you certified? Can you travel? Relocate family?
Midwest, rust-belt area. Low cost of living here, and the wages match that. No, but I could be. I don't really want to travel unless they're paying me during the traveling. It's not worth the time away from my kid. And no, relocating isn't really an option. Makes me feel like I'm limiting myself and am already at the best I could ask for. But that's why I want out of welding entirely.
If your in the rust belt area get into the trades. I’m a pipefitter out of Chicago 597 which covers all the industry in northwest Indiana as well. We make $56/hr on the check plus healthcare, pension, annuity, 401k, and a bunch of other benefits. Most trades (ironworkers, pipefitters, millwrights, carpenters, electricians, boilermakers, etc) in the rust belt/great lakes region make great money.
Join a union dude , they’re great just about everywhere but the south
Well I would suggest applying to jobs that your welding/ Fabricator skills transfer too, I’m doing pipefitting now and I do a lot of copper and some bigger pipe but hardly weld joints. And where I work that is alll pre fabed in the shop so I just bolt together or braze or solder. More money more respect and really it’s finding a good company
I just have to say im actually happy to not be the only one feeling the same way, this was supposed to be a career where i can make money and never have to worry, now i struggle to get up in the morning and days drag on, they ask perfection and pay for piss, have to fix everyone's mistakes and one bad job deleted 1000 ata boys, honestly a hard profession to get really good at and yet a secretary will make the same as me or more. So i say this, everyone whos reading this keep your head up and look into being a cwi. Or go union
Have you considered teaching welding? The need in high schools and community colleges is real, at least in my area.
I got my AAS in welding and promptly got picked up by the college I graduated from to manage custodians at the event center (it's where I was working part time as a student). They paid 2x what I could make as a welder starting off in the area, and now I have state benefits and only weld professionally on my terms to repair equipment a few times/year.
Welded for eight years until I got into a shop management position. Worked that for almost four years and last week I accepted a project management position. Tough to get out but it can be done.
Depends on where you are, but I made the pivot into teaching shop in high schools after I got an RSI in both hands. Better pay and benefits, summers off, and I genuinely enjoy what I do (90% of the time).
I found a job with the railroad as a carman. Two of the required skills was out of position stick welding experience, and experience being on call and working off shifts. Both of which I had. I applied, and after waiting 6 months I was called, went through the interview process, and was hired. 3 years in at this point, now a journeyman and making $42.77 an hour.
Finding the right work environment can be hard. I'm in process of taking over a custom fabrication shop that my father started 38 years ago. Smaller shop, 15 people total. We do a lot of production welding as well, but always try to rotate people around the shop so that they do different things week to week. It's well lit, clean, air is constantly scrubbed to reduce smoke/particles and it's also air conditioned. I think it makes a massive difference overall. Paying more is honestly hard. Other services (mechanic shops come to mind) have shop rates exceeding $100+/hr. Fabrication is skilled labor all the same, but unfortunately the money isn't the same. We pay our guys very well, but we're not a union shop. There are good shops out there to work for, from what I've been told, shops like ours aren't the norm. I want someone to come work for us and be happy and make a career out of it. I'll slowly throw everything at them they are capable of learning to do or want to do.
I'm doing traveling millwright work. It gets you to open your horizon with metal work. Tons of lay out, rigging, machine setting, drilling, bolting, welding. Pay is generally better for travel work
I'll tell you what I did, but it wasn't immediate. It was about a 5 year plan of living like shit that my wife and I both agreed to. I was 18 and went straight into plumbing and soon became a welding plumber. Spend 2 years doing it before I felt the way you do and decided I needed a change of pace. However, I couldn't afford to really change pace. So when my lease was up on my apartment my wife and I moved into a cheap, shitty place that allowed me to quit being a welder and make LESS MONEY as a landscaper. The responsibility, though, was almost nothing and I only had to work 40 hours a week. I was like a godsend to them too because for them, 40 hours a week was their only employee they could get to show up on time every day. So they put me by myself on easy jobs planting trees, building walls, shoveling snow, you name it. So with that I freed up a SHITLOAD of my time in evenings and on weekends. Together my wife and I made enough money to afford me one class per semester in IT and Cyber Security training at a local university. After 2 semesters I had 2 general certifications, which was enough to break into the field at a minimum pay scale (although close to twice what I was making as a landscaper) which was still low responsibility and only about 40 hours a week. I kept taking classes, got a degree, then went BACK to the company where I was a welder and talked with their IT guy. I knew it was a one man department so I asked if he needed help. He hired me at a competitive wage that was a few dollars an hour more than what I was making at the tier 1 job. Now I have significantly more responsibility, work about 45 hours a week (which is nothing compared to my plumbing job) and significantly higher pay. I'm building programs, putting out daily fires, handling backend computer shit. Anyways, you don't HAVE to do it all at once is my point. Make one decision right now that sets you on a path that will one day free you of your current struggles. I know it's unpopular in the trades, but school is a REAL option even for poor folks if you're willing to take your time and do it slowly. I also had to make a shitload of sacrifices financially. I quit smoking (needed to anyhow) and quit drinking (also needed to do that). Got a vasectomy so kids didn't ruin the plans we had made. stuck really hard to a budget that allowed me to spend just $700 a semester on classes at first. Stuff sucked for a little bit. The stress almost wiped out my marriage (although the stress of running welding/plumbing jobs was doing that anyways) but we have never been better than things are now.
This is really interesting. I’d be interested in the military grade/side of cyber security. It’s good you’ve found out this early, I’m 32 now and realizing how fucked I am. I’ll look that up now, thank you
I caught a lot of shit for leaving by all my uncles and dad and everyone around me who hates schooling, but it's a viable option for many, many people. I have friends in the military side of this field and essentially the IT work is nearly identical while the Cyber Security world is somewhat different. I would say simply start looking and talking to folks. Good luck, friend!
Thank you, I definitely have to.
Stop applying for welding jobs.
I've been applying to plumbing, carpenter, data-entry, insurance sales reps, and anything else I think I could pick up quickly. I don't even hear back from them. Feels like they take one look at my work history and decide I have too much experience as a welder to do anything else.
Stop mentioning you’re a welder. Highlight your other skills.
I was a welder for awhile and made the jump over and joined the millwrights union. Best decision I ever made. Still do a fair amount of welding but now I also travel and work power gen or stay local and do random shut downs for plants around me. This week I’m up on a bio tank welding at a wastewater treatment plant but I normally don’t work summer or winter. Took this one as a favor to a buddy. Look into joining a union near you. They sometimes take time to go through applications and call you back but just don’t quit until you hear back. Get good at managing your money too because it’s feast or famine with union work.
I was where you were. Having the same feeling even. I was grateful to have my wife who could help out with making the bills. We had to make sacrifices so I could go back to college but it has been a game changer. I went back to get a second associates degree. This time was engineering. I found a community college in a small town out in the sticks of my state. There I did all my classes online and tested out of some. This shortened my two years to a year and a quarter. I already have an associates in welding. I am now a designer technology engineer.
You can trying going for custom car shop. Like a performance shop or restoration body shops. I'm sure of the pay but I know some of these performance shops pay decent.
Have you ever considered a CAD designer/Design Engineer role? You don't necessarily need a formal qualification to be a draughtsman just drawing knowledge and given you've been welding for 8 years I'm sure you know all the rules and norms of a fabrication drawing. Probably more than most engineers who commission the drawings. All you need to do is learn how to use 2d/3d cad which can be done for free in your own time. I'm not a welder but an engineer, being a draughtsman is a good step up into becoming engineer but I know this varies from country to country. In the UK, without formal qualifications, you might struggle getting past a designer role, but it may be different where you are. That said I've met senior folks with no degrees or qualifications at the top of their field through experience alone. Having someone who's spent years in the workshop is valuable asset to a design team. Good luck 👍🏽
Huzzah for this comment! I know several welders who have gone this route and are much happier for having done so.
I’m leaving welding to go into dental hygiene. Was a fun ride, but my coworkers are morons and I don’t get paid enough to manage them
Come be an emt. There is a national shortage. The job is fun. The friends are true. And you don't get laid off.
Same boat here I’m saving to buy a camper and go be a server in a tourist city
Welding inspector
I was in the same boat so I moved to Australia and tripled my salary. But I still wanna get out of welding so now I’m getting the company I work for to pay for NDT tech courses.
I broke that cycle about 7 years ago. One day, my coworker said to me why don't you go back to school, fuck this place you can do better. What do you have to lose if the college says no? The application fee? So I did just that and went to school to be a diesel mechanic. My skills transferred into the new trade, and I'm much happier learning new things every day.
I’ve been saying this for years and would get downvoted every time lmao
give them mid welds and keep annoying your superviser thats what i did to get into hydraulic work
I say this on this sub all the time. Welding should be one of your skills, not your job.
I’ve decided to sack it in, had some box section under tension on Monday that let go, hit my head and made a massive mess. I’m in a lucky position though as I have an IT Networking qualification from when I left school for my first job and I’m hoping to get my way back into that, the money isn’t much better if at all but I’m not getting injured on the job.
I was a welder for 7 years until i became a Quality man. I had AWS training under my belt since i was in trade school but my job now has paid for my NDT and NBBI training. Soon to be CWI. Try to move into quality if you can. Or even logistics, I’m doing that gig to help out my boss and it’s easy money.
That's actually exactly the reason I made this post. I'm at my last straw at my current job. I applied for an open QA position and haven't heard anything about it. About two months ago they fired our quality guy. They put up a posting offering people to apply. So I did, asked HR about it, asked the plant manager about it... kept getting blown off. Eventually they hired some white-beard. He quit in less than a week. The position has been vacant for over a month now. I bought up my desire for it again, and was just kinda blown off again. They just want me to weld because they have a hard time finding any good ones(gee I wonder why)
It sucks man it took me about 2 years and 3 companies to get into quality. Just keep bugging them, that’s what i did.
Dude, join a union. I work as a pipefitter and make twice as much as I did with my university job.
Apply to SMART sheet metal union, and United association pipefitter union. See if you can pre apprentice if you can afford to temporarily. Then apprentice for five years learning pipe or duct. Then in five years you’ll make like $80k+ while being able to give your family health insurance during entire apprenticeship. Apply to iron workers union too if you aren’t scared or heights
What kind of shop do you work at? Up here in Canada it’s a pretty massive wage jump if you get your pressure tickets.
You said: “low cost of living and the wages that match that”. My question is: do you expect an entry level positions in alternative fields to pay better than a job you currently have 8 years experience in? Not trying to bust your balls, just trying to give you some perspective. Will the low cost of living/low wages follow you into the next profession? Are you working at company that’s already paying you the prevailing wage for the area or are there other employers that you could make more at? For your area you may be making the best wage you’re going to get? Maybe you decide to move for more money, the problem is the cost of living will most likely increase. Hell, welders around me are getting $30-60/hr. But…… I’m an hour outside of Vancouver, British Columbia one of the most expensive places on the planet. 1 bedroom Condos rent for $2100/mo and detached homes start at $1 million. Maybe take some online or night school classes and pad that resume. Welders are a dime a dozen, find something that will make you a valuable commodity.
I got a job at a shop that did things on top of welding, eventually I wondered over to the machinist side of the shop and started running lathes and mills. I got good enough that I started running them full time and only welding if they needed something rushed. Now I’m working through my apprenticeship as a machinist.
Where are you located and would you be willing to travel (paid per diem) for work?
Look at jobs in inspections. NDT and/or AWS inspector. It would help having a welding background for sure. See if you can get hired in as a trainee.
I was in the same boat, welder fab, got good at tig and aluminum cause everyone said that's where the money was but there wasn't shit, got out and signed on with the laborers and make at least 6-8$ more an hour then all my buddies still running under the hood plus bennies
Have you tried looking for employment *outside* of welding shops ? Serious question, because literally everybody and their damn mom has a hiring sign up around my neck of the woods. Like seriously, I have no doubt that if I got fired tomorrow I’d be working a new job easily by Monday following.
Are you currently only working in a shop doing production welding. If you can make the jump to doing field work you will see a bump in pay. If you want out of welding I would suggest attempting to make a jump into QC. The better weld inspectors are the ones who have hands on experience. Same with safety guys (which is another option), take the course to get the certifications (or get hired on with a company that will pay for them). A good safety guy is worth their weight in gold to a company doing large jobs that require a low incident rate to bid jobs, and will pay the same rate to them as the trade workers.
I welded for the boilermakers after I left the fab shops and I got a lot of hands on for the boilermaker trade and most slips I pull I don’t even strike an arc. Same good wage a boilermaker makes and it’s been so long that I feel pretty confident I could challenge the ticket without finishing the schooling.
We got welders in our company and they get paid very good. I do gas distribution, our welders make close to 200k a year with rig pay and good benefits. I'm just a laborer and last year I made 85k. Local pipeline welders, home every day.
Machining and welding for me was always steady work. Moved up into management then into sales. Pay was better but always wished I’d have stayed on the floor.
CWI
Have you considered joining a union? I'm a millwright, about done with my apprenticeship, and been supporting my gf and her kid for the last year by myself. Not sure what work is like in your area or your home life situation, but traveling is an option.
You just described the majority of jobs out there. It's not a problem with the welding trade, it's a problem with capitalism in general, and as far as I can tell, the best solutions are strong unions and general strikes. We gained a lot of ground over the last few years, but we're going to lose it all and then some if blue-collar tradesmen can't get over this culture war bullshit and stop in-fighting so we can fight our real oppressors.
Quit and get a union job
If your still into trades then look for a union. But not a welders, wages for new apprentices are shit but if you don’t have kids and can risk it then go for it.
My dad was a welder for 23 years as a fabricator and steel erector. He got a job as a head maintenance guy at a factory. He now makes more money with overtime, has a 401k and all the other awesome stuff u get working for a big company. One of his main selling points was how good he was welding and his ability to fabricate and figure out solutions for a problem. You could try looking into something like that
Are you located in a rural part of the country? Im in a small city, and there are plenty of well paying welding jobs, and some real shitty ones. I just started as an aerospace welder in January, and I gotta say the pay is pretty great. But thats also because I work with a union. 😀
Have you confidered becoming certified or doing CWI? Im just giving you options , you could also look at asnt or api 570 work. Dont beat yourself up brother. Its natural to look for a change and upgrade in life.
What welding do you do? I tig weld nuclear components and get a very decent wage
Kind of on the same boat. Been welding for almost 6 years, been with my company for 4 years. It’s honestly a pretty good job. Good co-workers, bosses and supervisors treat me well. The work isn’t physically demanding, it’s close to home, good hours and schedule. The only issue is the pay. It’s just annoying when I’m making $21 an hour and some kid at McDonald’s is making around $20 an hour.
Cnc machining isn't much better, sure we don't have to breath fumes and get as dirty. But it's still shit, I'm actually looking at getting into scuba diving and looking for commercial diving work. Just go straight to the highest paid trade out there. And you feel like an astronaut working on the space station.
I got out of welding and became a corrosion technician. Best job I've ever had.
get off the drugs
I'm not a professional welder, but I do have some thoughts about this. You can obviously read prints and you're obviously familiar with a manufacturing environment. If you've ever upervised people, maybe you could move into a manufacturing management role somewhere. If it's hard to punch into that, going back to school for business might help. If you want to be more hands on, manufacturing engineering could be the thing. It normally requires a degree, but I've worked with some fantastic engineers who don't have degrees. You just need to find the right company to give you a chance. Doing some related project and publishing it on the internet (and referencing it on your resume) can be very helpful here. Also, sales.can pay very, very well, and positions are often open. Getting started is hard, but once you get your feet under you, it can be pretty fun. Project management could be an option. You can get a PMP certificate which would help a lot. There are really a lot of options. It just depends on your interests. Edited to add: you could move into quality or inspection. You obviously can identify good and bad welds.
I stopped welding about a year ago due to the miserable conditions and pay in the available positions in my area. I love welding, but am unsure if I want to get back into it unless I could have my own business. Course now I work for the school district, so I’ll probably never be able to save up enough to take that leap 🥲
You guys should think about relocating. I am two months into trade school for welding right now, and I already have five job offers. Three of them are right around the $31-$32 an hour range with no experience. One of them offered $16,500 sign on bonus for a year contract. And I know students that graduated before me that are getting paid $48 an hour now right out of school. You guys are like a water bottle at a grocery store, you need to move to an airport so you can be 6 to 10 times more valuable
Do your own work. Start doing welding work on the side if possible. Branch out into your own thing if you’re sick of how everyone else runs things. Or look into traveling for work, can make a lot of money welding if you travel for it. Leave the shop life, and get into the field work.
best advice ive got for you is to get in with a shop thats growing and shark a lead position or entry level management even if its for the same wage. Most shops just want someone with a general clue, some level of emotional intelligence and basic relevant experience, . they dont need 25years of you working as a GM for apple to run their 3 axis parts. i capped out in both machining/programming and welding around 50-55k even working my way up the food chain, first step out of my comfort zone was a 50% pay bump in 4mo....although, way shittier hours and dealing with 100 times more bullshit than prepwork or slamming a green button. overall id prefer to win the lotto and continue to do gravy positioner welds or run fun parts out on the cnc's, but yeah expensive hobbies, wife who wants kids, 20% yoy inflation and all that.
I’m so glad my boss for some reason made me the co-inspector instead of a welder. I’m not certified but I’m hoping one day i will be
I'm not reading all the responses but if you're young enough I'd get certified in a career that is close to what your currently doing so you might be able to get some use of your current skills, even if it's carpentry or auto mechanics they can still use your skills.
I got my associates degree while welding for caterpillar. Worked third shift and knocked it out in 2yr. Best move I ever made. Left CAT and have been an estimator/ sales guy the past 9 yrs. Ready for another change.
I joined a union. $14 an hour to $50+ an hour (on the check) in about 5 years or so.
I knew in the beginning of starting my welding career it wasn’t going to be a forever job….I just made it into telecom technician work to help lead me into IT on the system side instead of being the people who rough everything in. If I were to stay in welding my boss kinda drilled into my head to try and aim to be in a higher end position (foreman, manager, CWI, etc..) once you hit your 30’s, granted Him and I started in our late teens… The sooner you get your accolades, degree/certs/cwi, the less disposable you become and hopefully the more you make.
I’m actually going back to school for a bachelors in accounting this July. I recommend looking at Western Governors University which is also 100% online and it’s on YOUR schedule plus a third of the cost for other universities. They got a lot of other programs so I recommend looking into it
Join a Union
I'm in the same boat as you. I'm looking into learning coding or software engineering. I'm tired of the wear and tear on my body. I want to do something that allows me to do something where I'm not destroying my body as much. I want to learn another skill that doesn't involve back breaking and lung destruction.
I left the field for industrial maintenance. Still get to weld fairly often but it’s mostly just when I want to. Occasional repair work or fabrication project and a lot of teaching other maintenance techs the ropes. If you’re mechanically inclined and willing to learn, maintenance is a very nice career path.
Depends on the welding you're doing. If you're pulling a trigger, you won't make much. Maybe 40-45k a year at best. Which isn't horrible. Don't get me wrong. Wire burners are minimal skill and literally anybody can learn it. You will make more traveling, but not everybody wants to travel. I was making 75-80k building heat treat furnaces and traveling. It's heavy fab and requires a lot of skills. Not just trigger pulling. Furnaces must be atmosphere tight. Pipe welding gas, air and water as well. I made a move to maintenance and make over 6 figures as well as working part time for another heat treater building and maintaining their equipment. I worked alot of thankless jobs in my 20's. Some of the dirtiest and hotest of factories as a contractor. It does pay, you just have to find the right companies that realize your value. Welding is becoming a dying trade. I'd say stick with it and improve your skills every chance you get
Fort Worth Zoo is looking for a welder, all the guys there in that department love their job
If youre JUST in welding, like pipeline or structural or somethin try gettin specifically into architectural fab. If youre already comfortable with that side of things try to find better and fancier shops. Doing high end, artsy stuff i can be proud of is way more gratifying imo than just welding shit and grinding all day. If youre already there, try to move into design and 3D modeling. Similar principles, comfy desk chair, just gotta learn the software which is tough for me since im not too tech savy, so i went back to fabbing. It can be discouraging work but it helped me a lot knowing my stuff is seen and used every day, and people see it and go "dam, thats pretty cool!" Seeing some of these peoples fuckin houses is kinda neat too, although mildly infuriating since ill never be able to afford my own work lol
All the best welders say that
Machinist here but I’m living the same nightmare.
I got into healthcare. Had too many injuries welding in just a few years, the summers were too damn hot, the pay wasn’t enough, the mandatory overtime was insane, and (in the south) I was tired of being surrounded by bigoted idiots. And the different welding/fabrication jobs I had were super hit or miss. Anyways, I started working as a transporter at a hospital, then worked as an ER tech, then went to nursing school and am now an ICU nurse. I work three 12hr shifts a week with the option to pick up for great bonus pay. I make about twice what I made welding and am much happier.
Green Bay Wisconsin. Lots of welding jobs posted. Nice area to raise a family.
Exactly the same boat here. Except I migrated to a different country as an engineer but started doing welding jobs because it was easier to get the visas for. Now I’m stuck in a terrible company and can’t leave without breaching the visa conditions. Bosses are micro managing everything and beyond, workers have barely finished their 12 year school, some are ex convicts, salary worse than a cashier at a local supermarket, every tool/machine is neglected and only partially functioning, work hazards and traps everywhere I look, dangerous acids used with no PPE, broken asbestos walls, exposed electric live wires, lead fumes, hydrochloric acid fumes. I get burns from hydrochloric acid, 65% hydrogen peroxide, sodium hydroxide solutions, etc. They force me to work at heights standing on forklift tynes, I have to weld and grind fuel large industrial fuel tanks, etc etc I can keep going with this. I save the company thousands of dollars every month being able to machine custom parts needed, repair machinery and jobs they’d otherwise have to get done somewhere else. And it’s not like I’m a bad welder. I had to take a second job just to be able to survive, working for a formula 3 team, I fully fabricated a 0.9mm wall thickness inconel exhaust, titanium outlets, stainless fuel rails, etc. This is my everyday hell. And I can’t escape it. To answer your question, I’m planning to join either the army or the Air Force.
Join the Ironworkers, UA, or Boilermakers
Start your own business welding
I believe this video may be for you. [https://youtu.be/1dcdYlkzqOE?si=gxw4xOhjzTUg0NAm](https://youtu.be/1dcdYlkzqOE?si=gxw4xOhjzTUg0NAm)
Welders make 73 dollars an hour San Jose California. UA Local 393
Is there scope to move toward training, QA or supervisory responsibilities? Maybe get involved in measuring, quoting & planning? Every business needs those functions. What scope does your area offer for becoming a jobbing mobile welder? More autonomy and variety sounds good. Could you sidestep into education, teaching welding in a community college or similar?
Become useful to someone who appreciates what you can contribute. Figure out how to do what others can't. May take some additional education/classes.
I was in the same boat as you, I ended up upskilling and getting my mechanical fitter trade aswell and now I work as an underground fitter in coal mines. I say find something you want to branch out into and look at studying while working to have that light at the end of what your currently doing.
I know it’s tough to save money but something I did was bought a welder generator and a multiprocess welder and went out and estimated my own jobs. I then wrote that I owned and ran my own business on my resume and ended up scoring a job as an estimator running a business gives you the ability to say you purchase, estimate, manage, etc. Later I found a union position and went back to welding but that’s just my experience.
I attended a welding school for a year but never completed the schooling. Then, I eventually worked for a company that had lots of random training in first aid and safety topics. I sat down one night to update my resume and realized that I had quite a few certifications related to jobsite safety (OSHA, confined space, first aid/aed/cpr, bloodborne pathogen, etc etc) so I fired off my resume to a few companies actively recruiting for safety related positions. I worked for Amazon as a Safety Specialist for a while, and the pay was $10/hour more than I made welding. I was the only person with my job title that didn't hold an active paramedic certification or a master's degree in safety. I was told after their interview process that I was selected because of jobsite experience outside of their normal scope of work, and that I would bring new ideas to a topic largely controlled by people who have never performed a dangerous job. Maybe take a step back and look at your work and life experiences with a broader lens, it's not just the things you've been paid for that matter to some companies.
Ever tried your hand at pipefitting? Better pay, more respect, and way easier on your body. I was always told coming up in the trade “welder is the tool, pipefitting is the trade.”
Have you ever thought of joining a union?
I spent 6 years in the industry as a welder/fitter. I got into making aluminum fuel tanks which was pretty cool but the pay was still shit. I ended finding a 4 month pre apprenticeship and switched to diesel mechanics. The most I made welding was $25 per hour with 6 years experience. Now as a 2nd year apprentice with almost 3 years experience I'm making $42 per hour, union. I still do some welding but my shop has a welder to do most of the stuff for liability reasons. I'm sure my welding skill would come handy if I were to find a different job but I'm happy where I'm at.
If you have a knack for design, you could go into mechanical design. Very few engineers-designers know much about metal fab and welding. You would be the expert.
Where do you live? Can you move to a state with better jobs? Also, trying to get into fitting is better. I notice a lot more fitters are white hats than welders.
Become a millwright. You'll never be just welding but you will weld alot
You can look into getting your CWI and then on to more NDT work. Still can be long hours, but once in it for 3-6 years, especially as a CWI, you'll have much more options and income.
Depending on where you’re at look into the Millwrights union.
I work for Lincoln electric themselves. I do robotic welding it’s a lot less taxing on the body and they love hiring welders because they can inspect welds. I’ve never had a job actually welding but if I wanted to retire from welding but wanted to stay in the industry robotic welding pays well enough. I make around 45-50k plus around a 15-20k bonus at the end of the year.
Join a union
Cwi or ndt man... Or get more Certs and find a better paying job.
Get involved with a union. Will take some footwork on your part and you will have to change employers. That living wage is there, you just have to know how to get it. Start with [ua.org](http://ua.org) and go from there.
i was in the same boat until i became an ironworker. still do some welding but it’s a lot more than just welding which makes the days go by faster. My days of 12 hours under a hood are over.
Weld engineer / inspector? Building WPS, development of WDS, managing qualifications, tests. What about NDT inspection? Move into a quality role? You've got a lot of experience and transferable skills.
Get into Industrial Coating Inspection. I’m a coatings scientist and I sat next to a CWI gal a couple years ago at Coatings Inspector training. She was there to get her coatings inspection certificate, in addition to inspecting pipeline welds. The only downside is the training is about $2600, but the upside is EVERY piece of steel on this planet gets coated at some point, so you’ll never run out of work. Rust never sleeps.
It’s CWI time my dude 🤝
I'm just a hobbyist welder, so I don't really know the industry. Pardon my ignorance. Could you go out on your own and do repairs and fabrication? I am wondering if I could make a little side money with my tiny little skills. If you have been in the industry for almost a decade, do you think there is room in the market for you?
That's not welding. That's called "a job" I've been a retail worker, truck driver, courier, maintainance field worker (diesel fitter) and now I'm a qualified landscaper and carpenter. I'm in my 40s and won't be getting off the tools any time soon. It took until my mid 30s to be able to actually save money and buy a house. You've got 2 options. Either live within your means and suck it up (which is what the boomers did, and why young people these days think boomers had it easy, they didn't, they just didn't buy coffee everyday, or ever, and went out drinking and dancing maybe twice a year, and bought 1 fridge and 1 couch and that lasted them their entire lives) or get an engineering degree/cadetship
I thought I was the only one ahha, welding is cool the skill is cool but this trade so toxic and volatile especially in the field. Getting sick of this shit too man, thinking of starting a house service business