In the shadow of Rhode Island’s prominent defense sector, General Dynamics Electric Boat and other companies are facing a persistent challenge: There aren’t enough workers and engineers to keep pace with spiking industry demand.
Defense contracts are soaring and shipyards such as the one at Quonset Point in North Kingstown, where Electric Boat has a large facility with manufacturing, outfitting and modular-construction capabilities for major nuclear submarine components for the U.S. Navy, are continuing to expand.
Courtney A. Murphy, Electric Boat’s director of talent acquisition and workforce development, said the company has open positions and is looking to hire, especially as it continues to receive military defense contracts, such as the $1.85 billion contract modification it received July 2 to a previously awarded $17.2 billion contract it received in May to support the construction of two Virginia-class submarines.
“We make a cool product here with nuclear submarines; it’s not like we’re making widgets,” she said. “You’d think that [in itself] would attract engineers and engineering students. [But there are] several key areas where we've had the hardest time finding talent. What we do is so niche, it's not a typical mechanical engineering.”
Compounding the issue of finding and attracting enough qualified workers are aggressive federal workforce cuts and a growing number of anticipated retirements from an aging workforce.
Murphy said Electric Boat has been addressing the challenge with a range of initiatives. They include hiring more than 3,600 engineers and design professionals over the past three years. The company has built out internship and apprenticeship programs and worked closely with technical high schools.
The challenge is not only affecting industry sectors at sea but also those in the air.
According to the 2025 Aerospace and Defense Industry Outlook report by Deloitte Insights published in October, 25% of the aerospace and defense workforce has more than 20 years of experience and is at or beyond the eligible retirement age.
From 2023 to 2033, aerospace engineer employment is expected to increase 6% – faster than the average for all occupations, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Due to workers transferring to different occupations or exiting the labor force, including retirements, approximately 4,200 openings for aerospace engineers are projected each year, on average, over the decade, according to the BLS.
About 15% of aerospace workers are leaving the industry each year, according to a June workforce study report by the Aerospace Industries Association in collaboration with McKinsey & Co.
Compounding that problem is a lack of new talent to replace those who are leaving.
In response to a survey by the Aerospace Industries Association as part of the workforce study issued to AIA member companies, 76% said they are struggling to hire engineers, while 56% said they can’t find enough skilled tradespeople.
Security clearance delays add to the hiring challenges for some intelligence agencies and firms.
At Electric Boat, most Virginia-class submarine jobs require a security clearance, which are only open to U.S. citizens. The need for security clearances “narrows down the field, the U.S. citizenship requirements. It's a barrier for some people, definitely."
Demand for security-cleared workers is outpacing supply at all clearance levels of government, according to a June blog post by recruiting and staffing firm GovCon Associates.
The demand for cleared workers has increased by 15% over the past three years, which is three times faster than the 5% talent growth in that time, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The dilemma has led to a nearly 5.5-month delay in hiring cleared workers for top secret/SCI, or sensitive compartmented information, positions, which is a 22% increase since 2022, according to the GovCon blog post.
In addition to retirements and workforce exits, the industry must also contend with the Trump administration’s sweeping civilian job cuts.
This year, the Department of Defense is cutting up to 60,000 civilian jobs, or 5%-8% of its workforce, the Associated Press reported in March.
The job cuts are also sparking fears over national security.
“There will always be a strong demand for nuclear submarines. It’s the main weapon protecting our nation, and it is the most important advantage we have as a military,” Murphy said. “This is an industry that is definitely needed, and finding new talent is actually a matter of national security; not just economic importance.”
Molly Donahue Magee, CEO of the Southeastern New England Defense Industry Alliance, which has worked with the Department of Defense over the years, said the alliance is committed to fixing the workforce shortage.
In 2020, the alliance received a DOD contract to train skilled workers for Electric Boat. Since then, it has trained more than 8,000 workers, expanded regional training networks and helped build a future workforce pipeline via K-12 education and technical school programs.
“Our partnership with the DOD will ensure that the New England submarine shipbuilding supply chain will find the talent it needs in support of building the Virginia- and Columbia-class submarines,” Magee said.
(Updated throughout for clarification. In the sixth paragraph, added details of Electric Boat's initiatives to find and attract qualified workers. In the 12th and 13th paragraphs, clarified the effect of security clearances on worker recruitment in the defense sector.)
Maybe give some scholarships to local kids to URI…