# Data Centers Are Booming and Pipe Welders Are in Demand — Here's How to Get In

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-lost-art-of-the-skilled-trades-6923648/data-centers-are-booming-and-pipe-welders-are-in-demand-here-s-how-to-get-in
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-lost-art-of-the-skilled-trades-6923648/data-centers-are-booming-and-pipe-welders-are-in-demand-here-s-how-to-get-in.md
Podcast: [The Lost Art Of the Skilled Trades](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-lost-art-of-the-skilled-trades-6923648)
Published: 2026-05-12T22:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://the-lost-art-of-skilled-trades.captivate.fm/episode/data-centers-are-booming-and-pipe-welders-are-in-demand-heres-how-to-get-in
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/09b930cb-1b4f-4ec4-a1b8-c2b11a8b7561.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2956

## Resource

The U.S. needs 320,000 more welders by 2029 — and data centers are accelerating the shortage. UA Training Specialist Bob Derby joins Andrew Brown. There's a program most people in the trades have never heard of: the UA Welder Finishing School. It takes pipe welders with existing skills — from trade schools, non-union shops, or plant work — and gets them UA-certified and dispatched to a job in 8 weeks or less. At no cost to the individual. Meanwhile, data centers are creating a surge in piping and welding work that shows no sign of slowing. The labor market is wide open — and the UA wants to fill it. Bob Derby is a UA Training Specialist with nearly 30 years in the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry. He came up through the apprenticeship as a pipe welder, earned his certified welding inspector credentials, became an instructor, and eventually trained UA members across the country as a regional and national instructor. He now leads workforce development efforts and helped build the UA Welder Finishing School program. If you're a pipe welder working non-union and wondering whether the UA is an option — or a young person trying to figure out how to get in, what to earn, and how far you can go — this episode lays it out clearly and honestly. IN THIS EPISODE (00:00) – The 320K Welder Shortage: Bob opens with the scale of the workforce gap and explains why the UA is uniquely positioned to solve it — and why now is one of the best times ever to be entering the piping trades. (05:00) – How to Get Into the UA: The application process starts at UANet.org — no connections required. Bob explains what the interview actually looks like, what sets candidates apart, and what happens if you don't get in the first time. (12:00) – Wag…

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