I'm skeptical that a Western welder would command rates 5x or 10x above the national wages, which is what they'd need to be paid to substantially improve upon their domestic market value. And that's not even counting for relocation costs and time, living in another country with a substantially lower living standard, etc. If there really would be a market for this, it would happen. Instead, what I see is Polish welders moving to Western Europe, where they get some extra training, and after that are paid less than their local colleagues.
Despite fear mongering like the GP, welding is a commodity skill, and yes they make OK money (compared to most other blue collar jobs) - but much of that is in overtime and even more so, in hazard pay. I wouldn't want to put on a diving suit and weld an oil platform I don't know how many meters below sea level - and judging from what it costs to get someone to do it, many people think the same.
Lastly, and this is not to dismiss the skill of welding, but a welder is not an 'engineer'. Welding is a practical skill, not hard to get started with, and 90% of all welding jobs can be done by someone with 6 months of training. It's the few highly specialized jobs that take more knowledge and experience, and it's there that the money is. In that respect, welding is (dare I say it?) not unlike software development.
Despite fear mongering like the GP, welding is a commodity skill, and yes they make OK money (compared to most other blue collar jobs) - but much of that is in overtime and even more so, in hazard pay. I wouldn't want to put on a diving suit and weld an oil platform I don't know how many meters below sea level - and judging from what it costs to get someone to do it, many people think the same.
Lastly, and this is not to dismiss the skill of welding, but a welder is not an 'engineer'. Welding is a practical skill, not hard to get started with, and 90% of all welding jobs can be done by someone with 6 months of training. It's the few highly specialized jobs that take more knowledge and experience, and it's there that the money is. In that respect, welding is (dare I say it?) not unlike software development.