Insights from the industrial market, technical recruitment, and work on production projects.
In many European countries, industrial companies have been reporting a growing problem for several years: the limited availability of qualified welders and steel structure fitters.
In 2026, the European industrial labour market clearly shows that formal welding qualifications are no longer treated as an optional advantage.
In industrial projects, problems rarely arise suddenly. In most cases, they are the result of decisions made much earlier – during planning, budgeting and team formation.
In discussions about work in European industrial projects, the topic of qualifications and certificates comes up very frequently.
The technical labor market in Europe has been operating under conditions of persistent imbalance for several years. The shortage of welders, fitters, CNC operators, and other production specialists is neither temporary nor local.