JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Waking up early to go to class looks different at the Jacksonville campus for Tulsa Welding School.
In response to bigger class sizes, they are now holding classes that start at midnight and end when the sun comes up.
Industry experts say the increasing enrollment is great news because the nation is in dire need of more welders.
This is the first week the school has started to teach overnight classes, and Jay Drake, Director of Student Services says the students asked for this schedule.
“It was a request because we just need to fill the need, we need to fill the need. There are people that have a different job during the day and we wanted to bring that in and say, 'Hey, we're gonna give you an opportunity that we have a 12 p.m. to 5:15 a.m. shift that you will be able to do and continue welding and just to fit your schedule that you in your work life so you can get into the new trade,” Drake explained.
The American Welding Society estimates that there could be up to 400,000 unfilled welding jobs by 2027.
If those jobs aren't filled, it impacts construction projects in cities like Jacksonville that need welders to build new infrastructure all to keep up with the growing population.
This year the American Welding Society reported 90,000 welding jobs that need to be filled annually and not having enough certified welders to fill the demand.
The school says the overnight seven month program is a way to fill the need of welders.
“It will definitely help the shortage due to the fact that, you know, we're providing in a short time period, they're gonna be able to go on and do the welding job, that need that the workforce is asking for,” Drake added.
Even though this session has already started, those interested in welding can enroll in the seven month long welding program as early as next month.