When COVID-19 first hit the shores of North America and lockdowns became the order of the day the US and Canadian governments reacted quickly in the form of direct financial subsidies to businesses and individuals. While the consensus is that the subsidies were necessary the general consensus is also that the benefits provided were far too generous and a disincentive to going back to work-$15.00 USD per hour for not working does not exactly encourage individuals to go back to positions paying $12.00 per hour. The result is exactly what you would expect, captive and commercial heat treaters alike all over the US and Canada are reporting an enormous shortage of workers. Lets face it, working in a heat treat department is good, honorable work however it is also very hard work, want an example of the turmoil this is causing?

In Fletcher, NC, USA we find a large automotive parts supplier who also has a reasonably substantial in house heat treating department largely consisting of batch IQ furnaces. The shortage of workers for the heat treatment department recently became so acute that the company was forced to temporarily shut down the heat treatment department, outsource the work to a local commercial heat treater and reassign the few remaining heat treat workers to machining departments. At this point the closure is a temporary measure. We are not going to veer off into politics, however this is quite obviously a very large issue and one which is continuing.

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