Last October, the White House released a supplemental budget request that included $3.4 billion to support the submarine industrial base – and it was meant to help bring improvements to the U.S. shipbuilding industry as the U.S. Navy has lagged behind its goal of delivering two Virginia-class submarines a year, as well as constructing the first Columbia-class nuclear ballistic-missile submarine – the sea service’s number one acquisition priority.
The United States Submarine Industrial Base relies on the U.S. Navy’s four public shipyards, and each has struggled to keep on schedule. A worker shortage has been one of the major issues, but it was reported this month that General Dynamic Electric Boat recently announced that its efforts to ramp up hiring have been met with success. Last year, the submarine builder hired 5,300 people for its facilities in Hartford, CT, and Quonset Point, R.I., along with an additional 2,500 people during the first half of 2024.
Electric Boat is Still Hiring
The submarine maker has removed the proverbial “now hiring” sign and instead is seeking to hire an additional 2,500. It is looking to fill positions in metalwork, electronics, plumbing, and other manufacturing skills trades. Electric Boat has also launched a new initiative across Connecticut, expanding beyond the southeastern portion of the state.
The “Hire Hartford” program – modeled after a similar hiring effort in Rhode Island dubbed “Project Providence” – aims to build awareness of jobs in the maritime industry. That effort led to 155 accepted offers by workers during the company’s job fairs in the Plantation State in 2023 and 2024. By comparison, Electric Boat hired just 14 workers in 2022 in Rhode Island.
In addition, the program resulted in a doubling of enrollment in worker training programs in the metal trades. The program in Connecticut could yield similar results by connecting the workers to training and potential employers, including suppliers that work with Electric Boat.
“‘Hire Hartford’ will bring greater awareness to opportunities in shipbuilding,” an Electric Boat spokesperson told The Day newspaper of New London, Connecticut. “To meet our anticipated growth, we need to attract more workers from Hartford and other regions of the state. We also anticipate that ‘Hire Hartford’ will help the hundreds of suppliers located throughout the state who build critical submarine components and are also looking to hire new employees.”
Higher Levels Not Seen Since That of the Greatest Generation
The new hiring levels have reportedly exceeded those of the Second World War, and 65% of the new employees are from the Nutmeg State. However, the company is looking to expand the talent pool.
“If you’re going to keep up that pace up, you’ve got to expand the radius that you hire from,” Rep. Joe Courtney, who represents Connecticut’s 2nd District, told The Middletown Press. “It’s something that is at the highest urgency. I’m very bullish that we are going to work our way through this and that we’re going to gut those production targets sooner than the Navy has been projecting.”
General Dynamics Electric Boat traces its origins back to 1899 when it was founded by Issac Rice as the Electric Boat Company to build John Philip Holland’s submersible ship designs – notably the USS Holland, the U.S. Navy’s first submarine to be officially commissioned.
A Race Against China
Rep. Courtney and Rep. John Larson of Connecticut’s 1st District were on hand this month at the launch of the Hiring Hartford program, highlighting its importance to the national security of the United States.
“We’re in a strategic race,” Larson said. “Even though China has surpassed us in terms of (overall) fleet, we still maintain the edge in submarines, which gives us a tremendous advantage. But China isn’t going away; they remain determined to surpass us.”
