No one has been unaffected by the recession. Every day there is a new report and thousands are out of work. Many more are underemployed, working two or three jobs trying to make ends meet. Manufacturing was one of the hardest hit areas when the recession hit, and many welders found themselves forced to find new jobs. Some were even forced to relocate in order to take a good welding job. The benefit is that in welding, welders are always in demand. There is always somewhere that is needing a good welder, so many welders have been able to stay employed even if they did have to move to another area.
This April, manufacturing and service payrolls are expected to expand in the private sector. Large scale hiring will most likely still be elusive for some time to come yet. This is according to the Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) survey for April 2011 done by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
This past March, the manufacturing hiring index improved over last March by a 12.0 point net. In easier terms, this means that a total of 45.7 percent of companies hired in March, an increase over the 33.7 percent that hired in March of last year. Service jobs decreased according to the survey by 11.5 points, meaning only 35 percent of companies in that sector were hiring in March, compared to 46.5 percent last year. This shows what just about everyone employed in the private sector or looking for work already knows – job growth is sluggish. For welders, this can mean that if they weren't able to find work and weren't able to relocate, they most likely still had trouble in March.
However, April is supposed to be much more hopeful. The number of manufacturing companies that have hiring plans for April is at a four year high, at 57.6 percent. The layoff rate for April in manufacturing jobs is at a four year low at 9.1 percent. This is good news for welders who work in manufacturing or are looking to get a job in manufacturing. They might finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief. So if you are looking for welding work, April should be a very good month to find something, especially in manufacturing. Even services is bouncing back a bit in April (compared to last month) with 41.7 percent of companies expecting to hire, so things are beginning to look up.
