The inside of Community College of Philadelphia’s Welding Technology training shop looks like a small factory.
Gleaming machinery, cobalt blue curtains, sterile work benches and well-organized tools and canisters. Here students learn how to hone their skills to handle dangerous tools and flammable gasses. The required fire-proof uniform? Only cotton jackets are allowed in welding, said instructor and former welder, David Poe.
Safety is the top priority. Poe knows. He’s been a welder since the 1970s.
“I used to build refrigerators for science. I used to build ships. I’ve built stuff for colleges, when they shoot a beam through something and judge how [many] particles are in the air,” Poe said. “In four months, I have to teach them how to be welders. It is quick. It’s hard, but it’s on the student.”
The quick timeline from school to job attracted 20-year-old Camyra Sawyer. At first, she planned on going to college and had earned a full-ride scholarship to Lincoln University.
But after a campus tour, Sawyer said college life wasn’t for her. After discussing alternative career paths with high school counselors and her uncle, she found welding. She recounted the moment she broke the news to her mom.
“I was just like, ‘Mom, I don’t want to go to school [any]more. I think I want to be a welder,’” she said. “I felt confident about it.”
Her parents were supportive, as long as the program was “legit” and she could get a well-paying job after graduation. Determined, Sawyer showed up to class every day for several months with a goal to one day work for NASA.
She caught on to welding from day one, Poe said.
After four months of intensive, hands-on training, Sawyer landed a job on a military base that pays around $32 per hour. Although she couldn’t get too specific, she works on containers for nuclear devices. These are the kinds of jobs that pay the most, Poe said.
Sawyer is making more than the welders’ average income in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It depends on the industry, but the money is pretty good, especially in Philadelphia.
Her welding helmet is decorated with stickers that denote Black female pride. One sticker, on the left side, says, “Black is Beautiful.”
Sawyer said while in class, she had Poe to look to for inspiration. Poe sees it as giving back, sharing he was taught by one of the first Black welders to work in Philly’s shipyards.
Pennsylvania is one of 15 states with the highest employment levels for welders. The top paying metropolitan areas are not too far, centralized in Atlantic City-Hammonton, New Jersey, clocking in at a $65,460 mean annual wage.
But being in the field wasn’t easy at first, she said. She is among only 8% of female welders, BLS data show.
“Especially being the only Black girl. I got discouraged when I first started,” she said. “I think, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m the only girl on my shift. Everybody [is] looking at stuff that I do.’ So you have to have a lot of confidence in yourself and just tell yourself, ‘Listen, I can do it.’”
Attracting more women to non-traditional industries
Sawyer’s experience is similar to what other women face in fields such as construction or manufacturing, said Rebecca Ambrose, director of training and apprenticeship at Philadelphia Works.
Over the years, the nonprofit organization has expanded its efforts to raise awareness for non-traditional career pathways by leveraging partnerships with government, private and public employers. It also increased apprenticeship opportunities to improve what it calls “the workforce ecosystem.”
One notable trend is an increase in women enrolling in training programs, Ambrose said, citing Philadelphia Works data. More people, generally, want hands-on training, shorter time frames to get their education and a chance to land a job within a year.
These industries include healthcare, technology and manufacturing.
“There’s a big need in these areas. I think employers, too, are really starting to see the benefits of hiring women, people of color, people with disabilities,” Ambrose said, “looking at diversity, equity and inclusion as an investment.”
A study by the Manufacturing Institute in 2022 warned of a possible welding shortage by 2030 because of an aging and retiring workforce. A few years ago, the American Welding Society echoed a similar concern and predicted a need for 400,000 welders by 2024.
The latest Deloitte and Manufacturing Institute Study underscored several key strategies needed to attract and increase the number of employees in industries where demand outpaces the availability of hires. One was implementing and investing in high school welding programs, giving students a chance to see what is possible outside a traditional four-year college degree. Another was shortening training times, which “can enable individuals to upskill at their convenience, helping to foster a more dynamic and efficient learning environment.”
Programs such as CCP’s Welding Technology Program and Philadelphia Works hope to do just that. One of Philadelphia Works’ programs, Women in Nontraditional Careers, seeks “to support, increase and advance the participation of women in construction, manufacturing and transit careers.”
Research shows that increasingly more women are seeking out these professions because of good pay and flexible schedules. The data paints that picture clearly. This year women in manufacturing jobs peaked, hitting the highest female employment numbers ever, according to the National Association of Manufacturers.
Part of it boils down to exposure to see what is possible. For instance, Ambrose said their mentorship program has played a large role in WINC’s success.
“Tradeswomen that are already in there, that maybe completed [training] a few years ago, can mentor other women [who] are going through it. [It is] really thinking about encouraging them to seize these opportunities that they might not have previously considered,” she said.
She said it is important to increase the visibility of women working in these jobs and break down negative perceptions.
Long-time welder and instructor Poe agrees. He said he stays true to his promise to students: they can call or text whenever they need a refresher or a test for a possible job.
When graduates get callbacks for jobs, they must pass a skills test. Sawyer ended up tapping Poe for help. She went back to the CCP shop to practice to prepare for her test.
“She busted it up. I knew she was gonna pass it,” he recalled. “Got down there and passed it, called me on the spot and said, ‘Mr. Poe, I got the job.’ I was like, ‘Yes.’ And she was hired.”
Sawyer said having a mentor saved her. She also credits her peers in school and coworkers on the job who have helped walk her through a new task or can give her feedback in real-time. The work she does is high stakes, so when she struggled with her first projects, her on-the-job mentor, Larry, helped her find her footing.
As she looks ahead, she takes the lessons Poe showed her, which are to always ask for help, save and budget your hard-earned money, and be humble.
“You need to be OK with not knowing everything,” she said. “I feel like I still have a lot to learn.”
