The U.S. Navy’s newly announced submarine contracts are being described in terms of ships, shipyards and national defense. For technical educators, the more immediate issue is people.
The approximately $76.6 billion package supports nine Virginia-class attack submarines and five Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarines, along with shipyard infrastructure, supplier capacity and other industrial-base investments. General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding are the principal shipbuilders involved. The agreements extend work into the 2030s, although annual congressional appropriations will still determine how funding is provided over time.
Electric Boat is maintaining a plan to hire approximately 8,000 employees during 2026. More than 4,000 had reportedly been hired by late July, adding to a workforce of more than 27,000 people across Connecticut and Rhode Island. The employment demand extends far beyond the two prime shipyards because thousands of suppliers manufacture valves, castings, forgings, electronics, piping, fittings, propulsion components and other specialized systems.
The resulting workforce challenge cannot be solved through recruitment alone.
Shipbuilding requires workers who can meet exacting standards in welding, machining, electrical systems, pipefitting, nondestructive testing, metrology, quality assurance and advanced manufacturing. Many positions require months or years of technical instruction, supervised practice and workplace development before an employee becomes fully productive.
That makes the contract package a test of the nation’s technical-education capacity.
Can high schools introduce students to maritime manufacturing early enough? Can community and technical colleges expand laboratories without weakening instructional quality? Can apprenticeship sponsors provide enough mentors? Can employers retain the people they recruit? And can programs incorporate automation, robotics and additive manufacturing while preserving the foundational trade skills on which safe ship construction depends?
Key Takeaways
- The Navy’s approximately $76.6 billion contract package covers nine Virginia-class and five Columbia-class submarines, infrastructure and industrial-base support.
- Electric Boat plans to hire approximately 8,000 people during 2026.
- The Navy estimates that meeting submarine construction and maintenance requirements will require 140,000 skilled workers: 100,000 for construction and 40,000 for maintenance and sustainment.
- Critical occupations include welding, CNC machining, pipefitting, electrical work, quality assurance, nondestructive testing and additive manufacturing.
- High-school CTE programs are part of the long-term solution, but most graduates will still require advanced instruction, apprenticeship or employer-based training.
- Schools should align programs with regional suppliers rather than assume all shipbuilding jobs are located at coastal shipyards.
- Expanding enrollment without expanding instructors, equipment, consumables, employer mentors and quality controls will not resolve the workforce problem.
- Student recruitment must be paired with realistic information about job requirements, working conditions and career advancement.
The Contracts Create a Long-Term Demand Signal
Large shipbuilding contracts do more than authorize the construction of individual vessels. They provide shipyards and suppliers with the demand visibility needed to invest in facilities, equipment and employees.
The submarine industrial base must support a target production rate of one Columbia-class and two Virginia-class submarines per year while maintaining vessels already in service. The Navy describes this as the nation’s largest submarine recapitalization effort in nearly 50 years.
That target has not yet been reached consistently. Workforce shortages, supplier bottlenecks, infrastructure limitations and production delays have affected the shipbuilding enterprise. The new contracts create greater certainty, but contractual demand does not automatically produce skilled labor or additional manufacturing capacity.
Why This Matters
A production contract can be signed quickly. Developing a qualified welder, machinist, inspector, electrician or controls technician takes considerably longer.
The demand signal reaches companies well beyond Connecticut and Virginia. The Navy reports that small and midsize businesses represent approximately 95% of the submarine supplier network. Its industrial-base initiatives extend across dozens of states and include machining companies, metal fabricators, electronics manufacturers, materials producers and nondestructive-testing providers.
A technical school does not need to be located next to a submarine shipyard to participate in the pipeline.
A machining program in Pennsylvania, a welding program in Michigan, an electronics program in Ohio or an additive-manufacturing program in Indiana may be located near a company producing submarine components. Program leaders should therefore examine the complete regional supply chain rather than focus exclusively on the prime contractors.
The Navy Says It Needs 140,000 Skilled Workers
The Navy’s Submarine Industrial Base Program Office estimates that meeting the required construction and sustainment rate will require 140,000 skilled workers. Approximately 100,000 are associated with new submarine construction, while 40,000 are needed for maintenance and sustainment.
Those workers include:
- Welders
- Machinists
- Pipefitters
- Electricians
- Quality inspectors
- Nondestructive-testing technicians
- Additive-manufacturing technicians
- Industrial maintenance technicians
- Manufacturing engineers
- Metrology specialists
- Production planners
- Designers and drafters
- Robotics and automation technicians
- Supply-chain specialists
- Cybersecurity and industrial-network personnel
The number should not be interpreted as 140,000 identical entry-level openings or as a guarantee that every training graduate will receive a shipbuilding job.
It represents a mixture of recruitment, replacement hiring, new construction, supplier growth, sustainment and specialized technical roles. Many jobs are geographically concentrated, require security or citizenship conditions, involve shift work or physical demands, and demand skills beyond a short introductory course.
The distinction matters for career advising.
Programs should promote the opportunity without presenting shipbuilding as an effortless route to high wages. Students need accurate information about training requirements, quality standards, working environments, schedules and the time required to progress from an entry-level employee to a fully qualified craft worker.
National Employment Data Can Understate Regional Demand
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment of welders, cutters, solderers and brazers to grow 2% between 2024 and 2034, which is slower than the projected rate for all occupations. Even with modest growth, BLS projects approximately 45,600 openings annually because workers will retire, leave the labor force or move into other occupations. The occupation’s national median annual wage was $51,000 in May 2024.
Machinist and tool-and-die-maker employment is projected to decline by 2% nationally, but BLS still anticipates approximately 34,200 openings each year. Machinists had a median annual wage of $56,150 in May 2024, while tool and die makers had a median of $63,180.
These projections illustrate why national growth percentages should not be used as the sole basis for program decisions.
| Indicator | What it shows | What it may obscure |
|---|---|---|
| National employment growth | The overall direction of an occupation across the country | Regional defense, energy or manufacturing expansions |
| Annual openings | Replacement and growth demand | Specific employer qualification requirements |
| National median wage | A broad wage midpoint | Shift premiums, regional wages and specialized certifications |
| Industry hiring announcement | Immediate employer demand | Retention, training time and working conditions |
| Program enrollment | Student interest and capacity | Completion, certification and job placement |
A trade can have slow national growth while experiencing acute shortages in particular industries or regions.
The correct question for technical colleges is not simply, “Is welding growing nationally?”
It is, “Which welding processes, qualifications and production standards are required by employers in our region, and can our program prepare students to meet them?”
Shipbuilding Requires More Than Basic Trade Exposure
Shipbuilding work is unusually demanding because individual components must be produced, installed and inspected within complex systems where reliability is essential.
A general welding course can introduce safety, joint preparation, process selection and technique. Submarine construction may require additional preparation involving:
- Procedure qualification
- Restricted-position welding
- Specialized materials
- Traceable documentation
- Visual and nondestructive inspection
- Distortion control
- Tight dimensional tolerances
- Environmental and contamination controls
- Rework prevention
- Production quality systems
The same principle applies to machining.
Students may begin with manual mills, lathes and basic CNC operation. Advanced maritime production can require multi-axis machining, complex setups, process verification, precision measurement, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, tooling strategy, material traceability and rigorous quality documentation.
TechEd Magazine’s earlier coverage of Curriculum for Advanced Toolholding illustrates how advanced machining education must move beyond introductory machine operation into tooling, process control and production decision-making.
Programs do not need to replicate a nuclear-certified shipyard inside a high school. They do need to create a progression in which foundational learning leads coherently into advanced college, apprenticeship or employer training.
A Strong Pipeline Has Multiple Entry Points
No single educational model can supply the entire maritime workforce.
A durable pipeline should include several connected stages.
Middle-School Career Exploration
Students should encounter shipbuilding as a modern STEM and manufacturing sector rather than as an outdated image of heavy industry.
TechEd Magazine previously covered the Beneath the Waves curriculum, which introduces students in grades 5–9 to submarine manufacturing and related STEM careers. Early exposure matters because students cannot choose pathways they have never seen.
Exploration should include more than promotional videos. Students should investigate materials, buoyancy, electrical systems, manufacturing tolerances, robotics, corrosion, logistics and design constraints.
High-School CTE
Secondary programs can develop foundational competency in:
- Welding
- Machining
- Engineering design
- Electronics
- Robotics
- Mechatronics
- Construction
- Computer-aided design
- Precision measurement
- Employability and safety
The expansion of manufacturing pathways at Eastpointe High School demonstrates how high-school programs can connect local defense-manufacturing demand with hands-on, industry-aligned instruction.
High schools should not claim that completing a two-year CTE sequence makes a student a fully qualified submarine builder. The more credible promise is that students will enter the next stage with technical foundations, verified competencies, safety awareness and realistic career knowledge.
Community and Technical Colleges
Postsecondary institutions can provide the deeper technical instruction, laboratories and credentials that many occupations require.
Programs may offer:
- Advanced welding
- CNC machining
- Nondestructive testing
- Industrial electricity
- Instrumentation
- Marine systems
- Quality assurance
- Additive manufacturing
- Engineering technology
- Apprenticeship-related instruction
The Navy’s Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing program in Danville, Virginia, offers a 16-week model covering welding, CNC machining, additive manufacturing, quality assurance and nondestructive testing. The Navy reports that more than 1,400 people have completed the program, more than 90% have entered defense-industrial-base careers and the expanded training center can serve approximately 1,000 students annually.
Accelerated programs can be valuable, but they should be evaluated carefully. Placement rates, retention, safety, employer performance and long-term advancement matter more than training speed alone.
Apprenticeships and Employer Training
Registered Apprenticeship combines paid employment, mentorship, progressive skill development and related technical instruction.
The Department of Labor recently advanced a partnership with HII that could use Job Corps centers to create maritime pre-apprenticeship pathways in Southern California. The proposal would connect training sites in San Diego, Los Angeles, Long Beach and the Inland Empire with shipbuilding careers and relocation assistance.
The federal government has also created performance-based apprenticeship incentives for manufacturing and other strategic industries. TechEd Magazine’s coverage of the Labor Department Manufacturing Fund provides additional context for the national effort to expand employer-sponsored manufacturing apprenticeships.
The challenge for employers is mentor capacity.
Hiring a large number of apprentices does not guarantee that experienced journey-level workers have enough time to teach them. An apprenticeship can lose quality when production pressure turns mentoring into an additional responsibility for already overextended employees.
New Training Centers Are Expanding Capacity
Shipbuilders and industry partners are creating training infrastructure closer to the workplace.
In July, Bollinger Shipyards opened a 7,200-square-foot workforce training center in Gulfport, Mississippi. Developed with BlueForge Alliance, the Submarine Industrial Base Program and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, the center is expected to begin hands-on bootcamp training in fall 2026.
The Department of Labor also awarded nearly $14 million in January to Delaware County Community College and Massachusetts Maritime Academy for shipbuilding training developed with international partners. The projects are intended to bring advanced shipbuilding practices into U.S. technical education.
These models demonstrate several useful principles:
- Training should be linked to a defined employer demand.
- Employers should help specify equipment, processes and competencies.
- Colleges should retain responsibility for instructional quality.
- Programs need clear pathways beyond an initial bootcamp.
- Equipment investment must include maintenance, consumables and instructor development.
- Outcome reporting should include retention and advancement, not only enrollment.
Instructor Capacity May Become the Limiting Factor
Facilities can be expanded faster than experienced technical instructors can be recruited.
A shipyard may offer higher wages than a high school or community college. An experienced welder, machinist or inspector who enters teaching may also need support with curriculum development, assessment, classroom management and accommodations.
Programs should therefore treat instructor development as a separate workforce problem.
Potential strategies include:
- Joint appointments between colleges and employers
- Adjunct instruction by qualified industry professionals
- Paid externships for current teachers
- Team teaching between educators and craft specialists
- Shared regional laboratories
- Employer-funded instructor certifications
- Summer technical institutes
- Remote theory instruction paired with local laboratory practice
- Reduced teaching loads during laboratory modernization
- Succession planning for retiring faculty
An employer donation of equipment is useful only when instructors know how to operate, maintain and teach with it.
Advanced Manufacturing Is Changing Shipbuilding Skills
The submarine workforce is not limited to traditional manual trades.
The Navy is investing in additive manufacturing, robotics, automation, digital production systems and improved inspection technologies. Its Submarine Industrial Base Program reports more than 60 suppliers involved in additive-manufacturing efforts and more than 110 additively manufactured parts installed on ships and submarines.
These technologies do not eliminate the need for skilled trades. They change the combination of competencies workers require.
A modern welding technician may need to understand:
- Robotic work-cell setup
- Welding parameters
- Sensor data
- Fixture design
- Programming
- Process troubleshooting
- Metallurgy
- Visual inspection
- Quality documentation
An additive-manufacturing technician may need competencies in:
- Digital design
- Materials
- Machine setup
- Build preparation
- Post-processing
- Inspection
- Process qualification
- Traceability
TechEd Magazine’s article on the DoD Manufacturing Technology Program explains why defense manufacturing increasingly depends on education that spans traditional processes and advanced technologies.
Schools should avoid creating artificial competition between conventional and advanced manufacturing.
Students need foundational process knowledge to understand what automated systems are doing, recognize errors and intervene safely.
Quality Assurance Deserves Greater Attention
Recruitment campaigns frequently emphasize welding and machining because those occupations are visible and familiar.
Quality assurance is equally important.
A completed part or weld must often be:
- Measured
- Inspected
- Documented
- Traced
- Tested
- Compared with specifications
- Accepted or rejected
- Corrected through an authorized process
Relevant skills include blueprint reading, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, metrology, statistical process control, nondestructive testing, documentation and root-cause analysis.
Quality should not be treated as a final unit at the end of a manufacturing course.
Students should encounter inspection and documentation throughout each project. They should learn that producing a part outside specification is not successful merely because the part looks complete.
Recruitment Must Be Matched With Retention
The Navy reports that regional Talent Pipeline Programs have helped suppliers hire more than 20,000 workers, with retention above 70%. The programs operate in regions including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Hampton Roads, Boston, Long Island and Southern California.
A retention rate above 70% also means that a meaningful share of recruits do not remain.
Workers may leave because of:
- Schedule demands
- Commute distance
- Workplace culture
- Physical requirements
- Childcare
- Housing costs
- Shift assignments
- Inadequate supervision
- Different expectations about the job
- Better opportunities elsewhere
Schools should not be evaluated solely by how many graduates enter an industry. Employers share responsibility for whether employees remain and advance.
Career education should give students an honest view of the work. Employer tours should include conversations with newer employees, not only executives and recruiters. Students should understand the work environment, entry wages, overtime, advancement, physical demands and geographic realities before committing to a pathway.
What High-School CTE Leaders Should Do
Map the Regional Supply Chain
Identify companies involved in:
- Precision machining
- Metal fabrication
- Electronics
- Castings and forgings
- Valves and pumps
- Nondestructive testing
- Industrial coatings
- Automation
- Additive manufacturing
- Marine repair
- Quality systems
Ask which occupations they expect to hire and which competencies are hardest to find.
Build Transferable Foundations
A student should not be trained for one employer’s exact opening at the expense of broader employability.
Strong foundational competencies include:
- Mathematics
- Measurement
- Blueprint reading
- Safety
- Materials
- Technical communication
- Documentation
- Troubleshooting
- Teamwork
- Quality awareness
Create Postsecondary Articulation
Ensure that high-school courses lead into community-college certificates, associate degrees, apprenticeships or recognized employer training.
Students should know:
- Which credits transfer
- Which credentials employers value
- What additional training is required
- Whether dual enrollment is available
- How long the full pathway takes
Use Authentic Projects
Students can complete projects involving:
- Marine structures
- Pressure and fluid systems
- Electrical panels
- Corrosion
- Weld inspection
- Precision parts
- Dimensional verification
- Robotic fabrication
- Additive-manufactured replacement components
Projects should incorporate documentation, inspection and revision—not only fabrication.
What Community and Technical Colleges Should Do
Assess Capacity Before Expanding Enrollment
Review:
- Available laboratory stations
- Instructor-to-student ratios
- Equipment uptime
- Consumable budgets
- Ventilation
- Safety supervision
- Certification capacity
- Employer mentors
- Placement support
Doubling enrollment without expanding these resources can reduce practice time and instructional quality.
Align With More Than One Employer
A program built entirely around one company can become vulnerable when contracts, technology or leadership change.
Regional advisory boards should include prime contractors, smaller suppliers, unions, workforce agencies and related industries.
Track Long-Term Results
Programs should report:
- Completion
- Certifications
- Placement
- Related employment
- Retention
- Wage progression
- Continued education
- Apprenticeship completion
- Employer satisfaction
- Student debt and out-of-pocket costs
Protect Pathways Beyond the First Job
Students should be able to advance from entry-level production into:
- Advanced craft positions
- Inspection
- Programming
- Supervision
- Engineering technology
- Training
- Production planning
- Quality management
- Operations leadership
Short training should be an entry point, not an educational ceiling.
Questions to Ask Your Program
- Which maritime or defense-manufacturing employers operate in our region?
- What specific occupations are they struggling to fill?
- Which welding processes, materials and qualifications are required?
- Do machining students receive enough experience with setup, measurement and troubleshooting?
- Is nondestructive testing included in our curriculum?
- Are quality assurance and documentation taught throughout every course?
- Which advanced-manufacturing technologies are employers adopting?
- Are our instructors trained on the equipment employers use?
- Do students understand the working conditions and schedules?
- Can students earn transferable college credit?
- Which certifications have verified hiring value?
- Do employers provide mentors, equipment, internships or paid work experience?
- How many graduates remain in related employment after one year?
- Are students progressing into advanced credentials or apprenticeship completion?
- Can smaller regional suppliers participate in our advisory board?
- What will happen to the program if one major employer reduces hiring?
- Are female students and historically underrepresented groups being introduced to these careers?
- Do students see shipbuilding as a national supply-chain opportunity rather than only a coastal occupation?
What Educators Should Watch Next
Whether Hiring Targets Are Met
Electric Boat’s 8,000-worker hiring plan will provide an early indication of whether recruitment systems can keep pace with demand. The more important measure will be how many new employees remain, complete training and become productive craft workers.
Whether Suppliers Receive the Same Workforce Support
Prime shipyards have significant recruiting capacity. Smaller suppliers may lack human-resources teams, training facilities and name recognition.
The Navy’s ability to reach the required production rate will depend partly on whether smaller companies can attract and retain workers.
Whether Accelerated Training Maintains Quality
Shorter programs can help workers enter employment rapidly. Educators and employers should monitor safety, certification performance, supervisor evaluations, retention and advancement.
Whether Schools Gain Access to Modern Equipment
Curriculum alignment will have limited value if students train on equipment that does not reflect contemporary production.
Funding should address instructors, software, maintenance and consumables alongside initial equipment purchases.
Whether Advanced Manufacturing Improves Productivity
Additive manufacturing, automation and digital inspection are intended to reduce delays and expand capacity. Schools should watch which technologies move from pilot projects into routine production because those changes should shape future curriculum.
Whether Industry Improves Retention
The workforce gap is not solely a recruiting problem.
If entry-level workers continue leaving because of schedules, supervision, housing, transportation or workplace culture, producing more graduates will not resolve the shortage.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much are the new submarine contracts worth?
The reported package is approximately $76.6 billion. It includes nine Virginia-class submarines, five Columbia-class submarines and investments connected with shipyard and industrial-base capacity. Funding will be provided over multiple years and remains subject to the federal appropriations process.
Which companies will build the submarines?
General Dynamics Electric Boat is the prime contractor, working with HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding. Thousands of suppliers across the country support submarine construction and sustainment.
How many workers does the submarine industrial base need?
The Navy estimates that achieving required construction and sustainment rates will require 140,000 skilled workers: approximately 100,000 for new construction and 40,000 for maintenance and sustainment.
Which careers are most relevant?
Relevant careers include welding, machining, pipefitting, electrical work, nondestructive testing, quality assurance, engineering technology, additive manufacturing, industrial maintenance, robotics, logistics and cybersecurity.
Do students need four-year degrees?
Many production and technician occupations are accessible through high-school CTE, technical-college certificates, associate degrees, apprenticeships and employer training. Engineering and certain professional positions typically require bachelor’s or advanced degrees.
Can inland schools participate in the shipbuilding workforce pipeline?
Yes. The submarine supply chain includes manufacturers across many states. Schools should identify regional companies producing components, materials, electronics or manufacturing services for maritime and defense customers.
Are short bootcamps sufficient preparation?
They can prepare students for defined entry-level roles when they include sufficient laboratory practice and connect to employer training. They should not be presented as substitutes for every advanced trade, apprenticeship or degree pathway.
Will automation reduce the need for skilled workers?
Automation may reduce some repetitive work, but it also creates demand for technicians who can program, operate, maintain, inspect and troubleshoot advanced systems. Foundational manufacturing knowledge remains important.
What should schools teach first?
Programs should begin with transferable foundations: safety, mathematics, measurement, blueprint reading, materials, process knowledge, documentation, quality and troubleshooting.
TechEd Magazine Perspective
The Navy’s submarine contracts are an industrial story, but their success will depend partly on decisions being made in classrooms and laboratories now.
The scale of the contracts creates urgency. Urgency, however, should not lead technical education toward narrow, short-lived or low-quality training.
A school’s responsibility is not simply to fill the next group of openings. It is to prepare students for durable technical careers.
That means teaching foundational skills alongside current technology. It means exposing students to shipbuilding without overstating wages or minimizing working conditions. It means creating pathways from high school into colleges and apprenticeships. It also means holding employers accountable for mentorship, retention and advancement.
The strongest response will not be one national curriculum copied into every school.
It will be a network of regional partnerships in which educators understand local suppliers, employers help define authentic competencies, students gain substantial hands-on practice and credentials connect to continued advancement.
The contracts provide a long-term demand signal.
Technical education must now determine whether it can convert that signal into a workforce pipeline that is large enough, skilled enough and sustainable enough to support the work.
Sources and Further Reading
- Axios — Navy Dishes Out $76 Billion for Virginia and Columbia Submarines
Current reporting on the contract package, submarine classes and industrial-base implications. - U.S. Department of Labor — Partnership With Huntington Ingalls Industries
Official information about the proposed maritime Job Corps and pre-apprenticeship pipeline in Southern California. - Navy Submarine Industrial Base Program — Workforce Development
Official workforce estimates, ATDM outcomes, regional Talent Pipeline Programs and K–12 outreach data. - Navy Submarine Industrial Base Program — Lines of Effort
Information about workforce development, supply-chain investment and advanced-manufacturing deployment. - Navy Submarine Industrial Base Program — Frequently Asked Questions
Background on production targets, suppliers, workforce needs and industrial-base investment. - Navy Submarine Industrial Base Program — Advanced Manufacturing
Official information concerning additive manufacturing, automation, inspection and supplier deployment. - Bollinger Shipyards — Advanced Workforce Training Center
Details of the new Gulfport training center and community-college partnership. - U.S. Department of Labor — $13.8 Million for Shipbuilding Workforce Training
Federal awards supporting maritime instruction at Delaware County Community College and Massachusetts Maritime Academy. - Bureau of Labor Statistics — Welders, Cutters, Solderers and Brazers
National employment, education, wage and occupational-opening data. - Bureau of Labor Statistics — Machinists and Tool and Die Makers
National occupational outlook, training pathways and wage information.
