The US welding industry is facing a big labor shortage

The welding industry will face a shortage of about 400,000 operators by 2024, according to the American Welding Society.

The problem comes from the aging population of the current welding operators and the lack of incoming skilled workers, Compact Equipment reports.

The two main ways in which the industry is addressing the problem is through training more operators, requalifying existing employees build their skills, and increasing the productivity of current operators.

With that purpose in mind, the industry is developing new technologies to make is easier and cheaper to train new recruits and help increase productivity. Current welding operators are also being retrained to learn higher productivity processes.