Worker shortage puts AUKUS at ‘serious risk’, welders say

The welding professional body has warned that urgent action is required to address the “deepening” shortage of welders who can help deliver the AUKUS submarines.

Weld Australia, which represents the welding profession in Australia, has issued a stark warning that the United States and Australia are grappling with critical skills deficits that threaten to derail the multibillion-dollar defence partnership – “before the first submarine is even built”.

This is not just a workforce challenge, argued Weld Australia chief executive Geoff Crittenden.

“It’s a full-blown capability crisis,” he said.

“The US doesn’t have enough welders to meet its own naval needs, let alone build submarines for Australia. If we don’t address this issue now, AUKUS will fail.”

The US is producing just 1.2 submarines a year, the body noted, which it said is “far short” of the 2.3 per year needed to meet its own requirements, let alone fulfil the AUKUS transfer to Australia.

One of the key issues that has been cited, it noted, is a chronic shortage of welders, with the American Welding Society estimating that the US will need to fill 330,000 welding positions by 2028, with an average of 82,500 vacancies every year.

The situation, Crittenden mused, is “equally dire” in Australia.

“Right now, 50 per cent of Australia’s welding workshops are running at 80 per cent capacity or less, and the overwhelming reason is a lack of skilled labour. We’ve been raising this red flag for over a decade. The fact that nothing substantive has been done is beyond frustrating. It’s dangerous,” he said.

“This is a perfect storm. A once-in-a-generation opportunity like AUKUS demands a long-term, strategic response, not just investment in ships and steel, but in people. We estimate that Australia will be at least 70,000 welders short by 2030. Without immediate action, the project is doomed to delays, cost blowouts, or worse.”

“This is the reality we’ve been warning about for years,” Crittenden said.

“You cannot build nuclear submarines without highly skilled welders. This deal was never just about hardware. It’s about people. And right now, both Australia and the US are facing a critical skills deficit.”

Weld Australia is pushing for a national strategy to address Australia’s own welding workforce shortfall, including stronger investment in TAFE, an overhaul of the national TAFE welding course and curriculum, and the establishment of a Shipbuilding Welding Academy to train the next generation of highly skilled professionals “required for this once-in-a-generation project”.

The federal government must act swiftly, the body proclaimed, to ensure that Australia’s sovereign capability does not remain dependent on foreign labour or faltering overseas supply chains.

“There is an overwhelming need to invest in Australia’s underfunded and outdated VET system. The fact that the national TAFE welding curriculum hasn’t been updated since 1995 is a major challenge – it no longer reflects industry needs. Graduates are entering the workforce without the skills required to read a welding procedure, set up a welding machine, or weld according to Australian standards, let alone support major projects like AUKUS,” said Crittenden.

“If we want sovereign capability, we have to build it, not import it,” said Crittenden. “This deal isn’t just about submarines; it’s about national security. And you can’t build that on empty promises and an empty workforce.”