With a backlog of five submarines in the yard and its three dry docks in use, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard plans to hire 350 additional employees this year, which would bring its workforce to more than 5,700 people.
The Portsmouth Herald reported that the shipyard’s commander, Capt. David Hunt, told an “Eggs and Issues” breakfast audience in Wells on Friday that the Kittery shipyard’s apprenticeship program has about four times the number qualifying as there are slots available, but the demand for engineers exceeds the supply due to the low unemployment rate.
As the workforce grows in the coming year, Hunt said the shipyard is encouraging ride-sharing and plans to spread more work to its second and third shifts in order to ease a parking crunch during first-shift hours.
