Competition For Skilled Trades Workers Heating Up 

The increased bipartisan attention in Congress and support by this administration for the maritime sector and shipbuilding is welcomed by all who support a strong merchant marine and maritime policies. But as the SHIPS Act winds its way through Congress, and various interests debate the best ways and means of making it law, one concern comes to the fore: recruiting the next generation of mariners and shipyards workers.

This week, the Wall Street Journal ran a piece about the increasingly stiff competition for young workers who are skilled in welding and other machine-shop skills. Those skills are in high demand—and increasingly so—as the boomer generation retires and industries expand under the push for trade policies that encourage re-shoring.

One young junior in Father Judge Catholic High School in Philadelphia received a firm job offer for a welder’s position that pays $68,000 right out of the gate. That’s pretty heady stuff for a not-yet high school graduate, and with no college debt to boot. If he accepts the job, that high schooler will go to work at a fabricator plant making equipment and components for nuclear power plants, recycling plants and other industrial customers.

These are the sectors that both shipyards and towboat companies are competing with for these workers, and the competition can’t start too early. That’s why getting in early and making a good first impression with these students is so important.

The Wall Street Journal article also illustrated the kinds of pay these sought-after workers will have to be offered. The high school students interviewed for this piece said they felt like star athletes fought over by sports teams.

This is the future of industrial revitalization—including revitalization of the merchant marine. The inland waterways are a vital part of this nation, and maritime companies compete for the same pool of young workers as other industries.

We hope generous and abundant federal support will fund the expansion of shipyards and the build-out of facilities and resources, but recruitment comes before build-out. If the maritime sector can’t target, recruit and train the workers, it won’t matter how many grants we get for physical build-out.