SECNAV: Shipbuilders Need to Hire 250,000 Workers Over the Next Decade for ‘Golden Fleet’

NAVSEA Image ARLINGTON, Va. — To construct the Navy’s planned Golden Fleet, U.S. naval shipbuilders must hire a quarter million people over the next decade, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said Tuesday.

Developing that workforce is key to the service’s plan to expand shipbuilding in parallel with new manufacturing techniques, Phelan said at the Surface Navy Association’s national symposium, as he emphasized the need for more vocational education and fair wages. “Systems don’t build ships. People do,” Phelan said.

“A quarter of the shipyard workforce is retirement eligible within five years. Over the next decade, shipbuilders and suppliers will need to hire roughly 250,000 skilled workers to meet demand. That means apprenticeships, vocational training, accelerated pipelines and partnershi