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You can get custom sheet metal work, if you're willing the pay the price and possibly are in the right industry. Sheet metal, welding, carpentry, pipefitters, a

You can get custom sheet metal work, if you're willing the pay the price and possibly are in the right industry. Sheet metal, welding, carpentry, pipefitters, and pretty much every trade are in massive demand in shipbuilding/repair. NNSY fails a significant portion of welder applicants just because they can't lay a proper weld. They pay... a lot of money.

ethbro 7y ago
You definitely see it in defense-related locales. Driving around Newport News, Groton, or even Birmingham is like being on another planet economically speaking. But I definitely see the point, as most of the suppliers are sized for defense, not commercial industrial volume. And from their perspective, I get the choice. Why risk expansion, when the trend has been towards free trade and offshoring? A 100x customer who decides to switch suppliers in a year isn't a win. At least DoD is a semi-reliable customer.
- rwmurrayVT 7y ago
  Driving around Newport News is like driving around a desolate shithole. There are very few nice neighborhoods in the area. Newport News and Hampton are the worst cities in the Hampton Roads area.
  - ethbro 7y ago
    That's what a shrinking population and economy does to an area.
owenversteeg 7y ago
"the price" being something borderline extortionate, in many cases. And there aren't a lot of options. In China there's someone everywhere that can do what you want; in America, you'll have to search. You can get lucky and find someone with some brakes and benders that does cheap work for farmers, but people like that are usually extremely hard to find and mostly in rural areas. And yes, welders do make more than someone at McDonalds or doing landscaping, but the myth of the super-high paid welder is mostly that. I just looked up NNSY welder salaries - average of 49K, and that's with a lot people there being experienced and there for a long time.
- rwmurrayVT 7y ago
  Completing the welding apprenticeship at NNSY results in an hourly wage of $29.73. The overtime pay schedule at NNSY. The issue online is complicated because NNSY also has "shipfitters/welders". They are paid substantially less than production welders. Production welders at a repair yard like BAE/Colanna/Lyon make in the range of $27-$30. They also make significant overtime. I agree that the myth of the super-high paid welder is mostly fabricated, but when it comes to shipbuilding at a nuclear yard it's a lot higher than you would expect.
robotnikman 7y ago
I've always wondered if the sheet metal used to build Naval ships was made locally in the states. Makes sense, getting it made in China seems like a bad idea

ethbro 7y ago

You definitely see it in defense-related locales. Driving around Newport News, Groton, or even Birmingham is like being on another planet economically speaking. But I definitely see the point, as most of the suppliers are sized for defense, not commercial industrial volume. And from their perspective, I get the choice. Why risk expansion, when the trend has been towards free trade and offshoring? A 100x customer who decides to switch suppliers in a year isn't a win. At least DoD is a semi-reliable customer.

rwmurrayVT 7y ago
Driving around Newport News is like driving around a desolate shithole. There are very few nice neighborhoods in the area. Newport News and Hampton are the worst cities in the Hampton Roads area.
- ethbro 7y ago
  That's what a shrinking population and economy does to an area.

owenversteeg 7y ago

"the price" being something borderline extortionate, in many cases. And there aren't a lot of options. In China there's someone everywhere that can do what you want; in America, you'll have to search. You can get lucky and find someone with some brakes and benders that does cheap work for farmers, but people like that are usually extremely hard to find and mostly in rural areas. And yes, welders do make more than someone at McDonalds or doing landscaping, but the myth of the super-high paid welder is mostly that. I just looked up NNSY welder salaries - average of 49K, and that's with a lot people there being experienced and there for a long time.

rwmurrayVT 7y ago
Completing the welding apprenticeship at NNSY results in an hourly wage of $29.73. The overtime pay schedule at NNSY. The issue online is complicated because NNSY also has "shipfitters/welders". They are paid substantially less than production welders. Production welders at a repair yard like BAE/Colanna/Lyon make in the range of $27-$30. They also make significant overtime. I agree that the myth of the super-high paid welder is mostly fabricated, but when it comes to shipbuilding at a nuclear yard it's a lot higher than you would expect.

robotnikman 7y ago

I've always wondered if the sheet metal used to build Naval ships was made locally in the states. Makes sense, getting it made in China seems like a bad idea