Welder - Structural

Location

Kankakee, IL

Wage

$20/hr

Employment Type

Full-time

Required Skills & Certifications

MIG WeldingAWS STANDARDS.
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Posted on October 27, 2026

Job Description

Overview

We are seeking a skilled and detail-oriented Structural Shop Welder to join our fabrication team. In this role, you will be responsible for welding, assembling, and fabricating structural metal components with precision and adherence to safety standards.

Responsibilities

  • Collaborate with other team members to meet production goals and deadlines.
  • Perform welding operations using various techniques including MIG in accordance with AWS standards.
  • Measure and mark metal materials utilizing measuring instruments and shop math to ensure precise fabrication.
  • Use grinders, hand tools, oxy-acetylene torches, plasma cutters to cut, shape, and join sheet metal and other metal materials.
  • Inspect work to ensure quality and adhere to specifications on blueprints.
  • Maintain strict adherence to safety protocols by wearing appropriate PPE.
  • Adhere to health/safety guidelines and procedures to ensure a risk-free work environment.
  • Maintain a clean and organized work area.

Requirements

  • High school diploma or equivalent; technical training or certification in welding preferred.
  • 1+ years of welding experience in a shop environment.
  • Ability to pass a weld test.
  • Ability to lift heavy materials and stand for extended periods of time.
  • Reliable attendance, strong work effort, and positive attitude.
  • Proficiency in welding techniques including MIG.
  • Ability to interpret blueprints and knowledge of metal fabrication processes.
  • Familiarity with measuring instruments such as tape measures for precise fabrication.
  • Ability to operate grinders, saws, plasma cutters, and other fabrication machinery efficiently.
  • Good shop math skills combined with basic math knowledge necessary for accurate measurements and calculations.
  • Knowledge of safety protocols specific to welding and fabrication shop environments.
  • Strong communication skills and ability to work well with others as well as work alone.
  • Strong attention to detail.

Benefits

  • 401k
  • Health Insurance
  • Dental
  • PTO

Additional Information

  • Work Location: In person
  • Expected hours: 40.0 – 60.0 per week

Benefits

401k
Health Insurance
Dental
PTO

How this job compares in Kankakee, IL

Pay in context

At roughly $20/hr, this posting comes in about 35% below the $31/hr median for welding jobs across Illinois, where the middle half runs $26–$41/hr across 184 postings with published pay. Put another way, it pays more than about 4% of the comparable postings we have wage data for. That gap is worth raising directly — in a market this size there is normally room to negotiate toward the median, particularly if you already hold the certifications the posting asks for.

The local market in Kankakee, IL

Kankakee, IL is a small market in our index: 1 other active welding opening alongside this one, from 1 employer. Across Illinois as a whole we're tracking 242 other active welding openings from 145 employers. With this few local postings, most welders here end up either commuting or looking at travel work. Browse welding jobs across Illinois.

The most active employers in Illinois at the moment, by number of open welding reqs, are Gerber Collision & Glass (12), S&C Electric Company (9), and Crash Champions (9). Volume like that usually means either a genuine expansion or a staffing agency working several client sites — worth knowing which before you apply.

Within Illinois, the best-paying metros we track by median hourly rate are Chicago at $38/hr, Elk Grove Village at $34/hr, and Bedford Park at $30/hr. If you can relocate or commute, that spread is worth factoring in.

What you'll be running

This posting calls for MIG. MIG (GMAW) feeds a continuous wire electrode through a shielding-gas nozzle. It lays down metal fast and is forgiving on clean material, which is why it dominates production and light fabrication work.

See all structural welder openings if you want to compare this against similar roles.

Similar openings near Kankakee, IL

Pay figures are medians computed from live postings in the Welding Pros index, not from survey data, and they move as employers post. Welder - Structural figures were last recalculated when this page was built.