Re:Study identifies reasons for soaring nuclear plant cost o...
by jjk166 on Friday November 20, 2020 @02:45PM
(#25164113)
It takes many years to become a skilled welder, and nuclear is the hardest class of welding to get certified for.
A few months at the local community college can get you to the point where you can do the most basic welding jobs, but these low skill jobs are the ones that either left the US or got automated, and the few such jobs that remain are mostly done by mediocre welders who should have retired years ago. If you want to do the high skilled welding that pays well, you need to essentially support yourself for years as you develop those skills on your own - and most people who have the means to do so have better opportunities in other fields.
Realistically, employers need to eat the cost of training new people if they want the pipeline to open back up again, but it's more economical to poach a good welder after some other sucker puts their resources into them, so you get a classic tragedy of the commons.
A few months at the local community college can get you to the point where you can do the most basic welding jobs, but these low skill jobs are the ones that either left the US or got automated, and the few such jobs that remain are mostly done by mediocre welders who should have retired years ago. If you want to do the high skilled welding that pays well, you need to essentially support yourself for years as you develop those skills on your own - and most people who have the means to do so have better opportunities in other fields.
Realistically, employers need to eat the cost of training new people if they want the pipeline to open back up again, but it's more economical to poach a good welder after some other sucker puts their resources into them, so you get a classic tragedy of the commons.