The welding industry will face a shortage of 290,000 operators by 2020, primarily due to the aging population of current welders and a skills gap of qualified employees to fill open positions. In order to meet the rising demand for skilled welders, Tooling U-SME partnered with Lincoln Electric to released a series of online welding training classes. The organization developed the new series of online welding classes out of the need to train, grow, and maintain a competitive workforce that can effectively work with welding technologies.
“We answered the call from the welding community to provide state-of-the-art training that aligns with today’s industry standards, specifically American Welding Society SENSE standards,” said Chad Schron, division manager, Tooling U-SME. “We’ve introduced these training classes to give welding professionals a competitive edge in this market, as well as to ensure companies have the workforce needed to help them succeed.”
Classes cover a broad range of welding topics, including non-ferrous topics, such as “Arc Welding Aluminum Alloys 310” and “Advanced GMAW Applications 302” (gas metal arc welding on stainless steel or aluminum). These classes offer multimedia enhancements and engagement to deliver users with a rich learning experience.
“With so many advancements in the manufacturing industry, it’s important that training lives in the digital space where students and instructors have immediate access to updated lessons and materials,” said Jason Scales, manager of Educational Services at Lincoln Electric. “By collaborating with Tooling U-SME, we helped develop a welding curriculum that effectively demonstrates the practical use of the latest cutting-edge tools and technologies in a format easily accessible to users.”