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Training young people

Bondo

Hot Rolled
Joined
May 14, 2011
Location
Bridgeton NJ
So since people are sooo quick to jump on my shit about training the new generation, I want everyone to post how many people under 26 they have, training, and what they are doing to help out.



At our local Salem County Votech... We use to have 2 large (500+ employee) contractors plus the Salem nuclear plant use the Votech as a hiring place for new recruits. In 2000, when I graduated, we were getting donations out the wazoo from large companies for welding materials, rods, wire, and new welders. As of 2010, all donations have halted, from everyone. The new students have to work off scraps and they don't have the budget for welding rods. The reason that I understand from the teachers... "the companies are not getting the workmanship they use to recieve".


So I want to know, how many owners and shop supervisors are doing something to push welding, fabrication, and machining to the young people!!!!


I am not a large company, but I have tried to teach over a dozen students, employees for me and not, plus I am an active member for our boy scout troop which I help with all of the trades and camping as I am an eagle scout of the troop. As you need money, they need money.... And people to help out and I barely read about anyone helping out.

I own/built my business myself, have a family and I still take time to help out the newer generation. What is everyone else doing to support.... Where is your donation of time, or 3/8 x 6 flatbar for a bend test, or some material for machining....


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So since people are sooo quick to jump on my shit about training the new generation, I want everyone to post how many people under 26 they have, training, and what they are doing to help out.



At our local Salem County Votech... We use to have 2 large (500+ employee) contractors plus the Salem nuclear plant use the Votech as a hiring place for new recruits. In 2000, when I graduated, we were getting donations out the wazoo from large companies for welding materials, rods, wire, and new welders. As of 2010, all donations have halted, from everyone. The new students have to work off scraps and they don't have the budget for welding rods. The reason that I understand from the teachers... "the companies are not getting the workmanship they use to recieve".


So I want to know, how many owners and shop supervisors are doing something to push welding, fabrication, and machining to the young people!!!!


I am not a large company, but I have tried to teach over a dozen students, employees for me and not, plus I am an active member for our boy scout troop which I help with all of the trades and camping as I am an eagle scout of the troop. As you need money, they need money.... And people to help out and I barely read about anyone helping out.

I own/built my business myself, have a family and I still take time to help out the newer generation. What is everyone else doing to support.... Where is your donation of time, or 3/8 x 6 flatbar for a bend test, or some material for machining....


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during recession there are plenty of people to hire and companies stop or halt training i have even seen 2nd and 3rd year apprentices layed off. its normal and i have seen it many times.
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there is often a 2 to 10 year delay before most are back to work already trained and there is a need to train new people. i have seen this many many times including companies complaining nobody available to hire and complaining about cost to train people. often schools or apprentice programs are shutdown and they have to restarted years later. many companies do not have long term plans and ability to withstand recessions more than a year or maybe 2 years. i hear German companies think much more long term and rarely lay off apprentices
 
I have three people in a twelve person company under 25.

One is a 22 year old on his second year of his apprenticeship under me. He started here the Monday after he graduated from tech school and has been an exceptional employee. The shop he was at while going to school did a great job teaching him.

One is 24 and in his second year of the Machine Tool Program. He is improving, but lacks a lot of confidence.

The other is a senior in high school, with aspirations of owning his own shop. He just bought his first machine and rented out a space to start his side business making vise handles, and other small parts.

I am also active in working with a local high school and tech school about what we would like to see students learning in their classes and show our shop off.

We are a growing company and are hopeful that investing time and money into our younger staff will help us to continue to grow.
 
most shops have a mix of young and old employees. if nothing else so not too many are retiring every year and the shop is not just full of the highest paid workers.
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hard for shop to compete if everybody making 200% of average wage in the area
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indeed salary web site listing wages paid by some companies. often they leave out paying 150% for overtime and 6% 401K and extra for working evening or night shift so the actual annual wage on a W2 can and is usually much higher
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CNC Machinist Salaries in the United States | Indeed.com
 
As of 2010, all donations have halted, from everyone. The new students have to work off scraps and they don't have the budget for welding rods. The reason that I understand from the teachers... "the companies are not getting the workmanship they use to recieve"

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Sorry but I call total BS on that one. More like a government that over-regulated and did not support business of any kind in the USA. This lead to smaller profits of said companies that had made donations in the past. The ways things are going now I don't think it will be long before these donations start pouring in once again.
 
Calling BS.... Call them at 9 am tomorrow morning or I call BS on you..
Salem County Votech 856-769-0101

Ask for the welding, electrical, construction or automotive shops and ask for the teachers

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Me personally?
Probably near 100 young guys in 45 years. I enjoy teaching. You only have to show me you are working at it for me to help you out. If you won't put in the time don't expect me to.
 
Calling BS.... Call them at 9 am tomorrow morning or I call BS on you..
Salem County Votech 856-769-0101

Ask for the welding, electrical, construction or automotive shops and ask for the teachers

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Call BS on me all you want! No sweat off my balls. The excuses your stating are third hand even then who to say these companies are being truthful on why they have tightened up their donations. Much easier to blame the school than to say sorry we tightened up our bottom line and have cut funding. Either way, in my opinion, your third-hand reasoning sounds fishy/odd at best.
 
Me personally?
Probably near 100 young guys in 45 years. I enjoy teaching. You only have to show me you are working at it for me to help you out. If you won't put in the time don't expect me to.

I also enjoy teaching younger guys/gals. Much easier to teach them than someone stuck in there old ways and always has an opinion on how they think it should be done.
 
So when I graduated in 2000, I went to work for one of the two big companies that sponsored the Votech. At that time, there were 9 of us over 3 years that I was friend with. The 2 friends I still have that work their have reinforced that they don't get quality workers from the school anymore. They are based out of wilmington Delaware and the school is based in Pilesgrove nj. They have stated, even when I was there, that they can't get anyone skilled from Delaware, and that they sponsor the SCVTS because it's the only place then get quality workers. So yes I know first hand that they aren't getting the skilled workers they need. Especially when the top 4 welders in that company, came from our school. So it's not a government issue so slow your BS way the hell down and cross the country to NJ.

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aaront: Impressed that a school-boy can afford to buy a machine.
No apprenticeships here in the South. Local tech college cannot tell you who is hiring or salaries for machinists or draughtsmen!
 
I had lots of apprentices go through my hands in my time as an engineer. I still keep in touch with quite a few of the guys. Most of them became success stories. All bar one are still engineers, some better at the job than others but most people would employ any of them. One of them now repairs motorcycles for a living. One or two of the brighter ones got off the tools and made it big in management.

The thing I looked for in young guys was - ATTITUDE. If you have a good attitude to work I can teach you all the rest that you need to know. If your attitude is poor we aren't going to get along.

Regards Tyrone.
 
I had lots of apprentices go through my hands in my time as an engineer. I still keep in touch with quite a few of the guys. Most of them became success stories. All bar one are still engineers, some better at the job than others but most people would employ any of them. One of them now repairs motorcycles for a living. One or two of the brighter ones got off the tools and made it big in management.

The thing I looked for in young guys was - ATTITUDE. If you have a good attitude to work I can teach you all the rest that you need to know. If your attitude is poor we aren't going to get along.

Regards Tyrone.

"One or two of the brighter ones got off the tools and made it big in management."

That's one of the things some PM members seem to find it hard to grasp re my life.

After my 5 years apprenticeship (John Lang & Sons - lathe manufacturers in Scotland) when I was 25 I moved on to management as that was always my goal.

When I started my own company at the ripe old age of 50 I had to start machining again to get familiar with the processes I needed to be able to show others. Now I just stick to making prototypes of the ideas I get and leave the machining to those that have it as their trade. I can of course still operate most machines but it's been a while since I had to :)

The hard part, as many will know, isn't getting the idea but selling it.
 
aaront: Impressed that a school-boy can afford to buy a machine.
No apprenticeships here in the South. Local tech college cannot tell you who is hiring or salaries for machinists or draughtsmen!

As am I. This kid really knows what he wants and is going for it. Along with purchasing a VMC, he also just rented his first shop space to put it in. This also all on his own dime, not his parents.
 
I employ young people all the time.
This year I had 3 different people 30 and under, all graduates this year of the local 2 year AA welding program at the community college.
Last year, I had 2.
Due to the oddball nature of my business, I employ welders and fabricators full time, but only part of the year- Usually 4 to 6 months.
I have become the post grad finishing school for the best welding students around here- usually their first job after their degree, and then they move on to bigger shops.
I am close with the faculty of 3 different community colleges and universities near me, and the faculty sends me their best kids.
These kids are great. They are smart, motivated, and well trained in the basics- shop math, measure,cut, basic machinery usage, and I only hire the very best welders, usually with certs for mig, stick, and tig.

In addition, we employ 3 different young people under 30 to do sewing, computer work, and web design.
This is about average. The office and computer kids are usually current students at Western Washington Univ, who we employ part time.
Over the years we have employed probably 40 or more kids from Western, including a dozen or so from the Industrial Design program.

So, at any given time, we usually have about 6 young kids working full or part time.
They know the basics- but we train them in all kinds of real world stuff.
Many have gone on to really good jobs, probably ten have their own businesses now.
I have had maybe 8 of the welders who worked for me over the years start their own weld/fab businesses.

I have not seen the drop of interest by industry- in my area industry co-operates very closely with the trade schools, donating materials, money, and sometimes equipment.
Linde, in particular, is very generous with the welding departments.
I had 2 different presidents of the student welding society work for me this year- both had been to Fabtech and come back with bags of donated swag for the welding students, including abrasives, tungstens, gloves, and even some hoods. Companies at Fabtech are pretty good about giving freebies to welding students.

We have well equipped community college welding, machining, and manufacturing departments here- they have ironworkers, press brakes, rolls and shears, and CNC plasma machines, and the kids I hire have at least exposure to all of these machines. Some more than others.

Obviously, every kid is different. But I find no shortage of motivated, skilled welders to hire right out of trade school.
And I train em a lot. They can weld, thats a great start. But fitting, cutting, bending, and doing all kinds of fabricating in the real world is more than just running perfect beads all day.
I used to have full time employees, for almost 25 years- and then, I found it takes about 2 years to train a fabricator AFTER they are already certified welders.
Now, my guys (and girls- I had two female tig welders in 2016, and they were very very good) dont get as fully trained by me, but depending on the project, they certainly leave knowing more than when they arrived.
I may be just lying to myself, but I have noticed that after they work for me, they tend to get hired faster, and promoted faster, at local shops. People know we do unusual, top quality stuff, and the rep helps them a bit. Mainly, though, they succeed based on their own skills, work ethic, and attitude.
Both of those two women got raised up off the all day flux core within a couple months, and are doing more detail oriented, fussy stuff now.
 
I have three guys under 22, two full time and one part time. I always have an apprentice, currently a 21 year old. I hire mostly out of the local community college's welding program like Ries does. Probably one of the most enjoyable things about owning a shop is training young people. I went through an apprenticeship, probably the best thing I ever did, nice to pass it on to someone.
 
I was going thru the hoops trying to fire an apprentice,which is near impossible here,when the kid was busted for major ice dealing........he was richer than i am....everyone i know now dreams of the 100% robot workforce.......I tell kids to do something else,unless theyre happy to work for $2 hr and a bowl of noodles a day.........just today ,I see an auction sign on the biggest most modern local engineering works........no,i wont be goin'
 
I like to teach and see them surpass myself. Everyone that I hired over the last 3 years has contributed something to me and the company I work for. They don't always pass probation though....
 
I have 8 full time employees all of them under 27 except our machinist. We train all of them to run the machines. I have 20 year old girls running our 500 ton hobbing press and a 16 year old who has worked for me for 3 years who started sweeping who is now running parts for me on saturdays. My son is 18 and he knows how to run everything in the shop as does the 2 other 18 year olds. They are not great at any of it yet but it takes time. I hope to keep them employed for many decades to come so we pay them well and have payed vacations and bonuses. We have not lost anyone yet.
 
At our local Salem County Votech... We use to have 2 large (500+ employee) contractors plus the Salem nuclear plant use the Votech as a hiring place for new recruits. In 2000, when I graduated, we were getting donations out the wazoo from large companies for welding materials, rods, wire, and new welders. As of 2010, all donations have halted, from everyone. The new students have to work off scraps and they don't have the budget for welding rods. The reason that I understand from the teachers... "the companies are not getting the workmanship they use to recieve".

Sounds like the votech needs to sort this out. It won't matter how much stuff people donate to the program if the major firms in the are going to waste can all the resumes coming from those programs. I suspect something else has changed. Either way it doesn't matter their program is broken. Education isn't about selling the program to students its about placing students into jobs. When that happens students will line up to get in. Unfortunately many schools in the states are now designed to produce a product without a market. What I like to call "square eggs".
 








 
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