According to Weld Australia, not enough apprentices are taking up trade careers—one of which is welding. As such, there aren’t enough welders to create Australia’s green energy infrastructure.  

Over the past 20 years, the fabrication industry has declined by around 20%, and the number of welders in Australia has dropped from 90,000 to just under 60,000. 

The construction and maintenance of renewable energy sources including solar panels, wind turbines, and hydropower all require welders. Due to this anticipated labor shortfall, Australia won’t have enough workers to support the nation’s essential infrastructure, rail, energy, and defence projects. 

Business owners say that staff shortages are their greatest challenge. “By 2030, we will be 70,000 welders short. This is not an exclusively Australian problem. In America, they will be short half a million welders, and the Japanese will be 250,000 short.” Weld Australia chief executive Geoff Crittenden said.  

The nation must double its fabrication industry’s capacity to satisfy demand from the renewables sector, and more investment in apprenticeship should be provided to avoid a persistent staffing crisis that would stall progress on renewable energy advancements. 

“In Queensland, we have fabricators that are working at about 50 per cent capacity because they can’t find people to do the welding,” Mr Crittenden said.  

For business owner Adrian Pope, worker shortages are his biggest problem.   

Mr Pope runs a diesel repair business in Mount Isa that services large-scale machinery for clients worldwide.  

“We do have to turn people away; we just don’t have the capacity to work the jobs,” he said.  

Because of this shortage in labour, he has to decline projects due to a lack of welders. Mr Pope is disappointed that more prominent organisations, including mining companies, have reduced their trainees.  

He also added that getting skilled workers overseas is another solution that they have considered, but it also poses a challenge.  

Currently, obtaining a Certificate III takes three years and entails studying once a week while working. 

Mr Crittendon thinks that the current study path for apprentices needs to be overhauled entirely and said that a one-year course would likely encourage mature students and school leavers to work in the welding industry.  

Reference:

ABC News. (2022, November 23). Australia needs 70,000 more welders by 2030 to help Power Renewable Energy Shift, Weld Australia says. ABC News. Retrieved December 1, 2022, from https://amp-abc-net-au.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/101689142