Electric Boat in Groton launches 'Hire Hartford' to boost recruitment for building U.S. Navy subs

The U.S. Navy and Electric Boat are continuing to ramp up hiring efforts for the company's Groton manufacturing facility that are needed now and will be required in the coming years to help produce two new classes of military submarines.

The company and the Navy have launched a new initiative to boost worker recruitment across the entire state of Connecticut, rather than just the southeastern part of the state, as has traditionally been the case. The "Hire Hartford" program is designed to build awareness of jobs in the maritime industry, as well as connect workers to training and potential employers.

The Hire Hartford program is modeled after a successful hiring initiative in Rhode Island, "Project Providence."

Project Providence led to 155 accepted offers by workers during Electric Boat's job fairs in the state in 2023 and 2024 after only having 14 in 2022. It also resulted in enrollment in Rhode Island worker training programs for jobs in the metal trades more than doubling.

The launch of the new Connecticut hiring initiative is being played out against a consistent drumbeat of published reports that say worker shortages are putting the production timetables for new Virginia-class submarines behind schedule.

U.S. Reps. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, and John Larson, D-1st District, were in East Hartford this week to help launch the Hiring Hartford program. Both lawmakers said while they remain confident Electric Boat can keep up Virginia class sub production schedule, the importance of meeting its workforce needs is key 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."

Courtney said Electric Boat hired 5,300 workers last year in Rhode Island and Connecticut, with 65 percent of those new employees coming from the Nutmeg State. Through the end of June, Electric Boat has added another 2,500 workers, he said.

"If you're going to keep up that pace up, you've got to expand the radius that you hire from," Courtney said. "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."

Even with the pace of hiring at current levels, Courtney said three Virginia-class subs will be delivered to the Navy between now and Jan. 1.

Reuters reported in April that Virginia-class submarines as well as an aircraft carrier and frigates being built for the Navy are now years behind schedule because of skilled labor shortages, design issues, and supply chain challenges.

Part of the reason for the labor shortage, according to Courtney, is that two classes of submarine are being built for the Navy at the same time. In addition to the smaller Virginia-class submarines, there are also larger Columbia-class submarines that he said "have more missile tubes for conventional weapons."

"Columbia right now is of the highest priority because of the age of the subs they are going to be replacing," he said. "That's consuming a lot more of the workforce in terms of production schedules."

Courtney said the hiring levels at Electric Boat currently "exceed what they did in World War II, to put it in perspective."

Shawn Coyne, vice president for human resources at Electric Boat, described the Hire Hartford initiative as "an all-in approach."

"We have to pull in from different areas of Connecticut," Coyne said. He said in order to achieve the production levels required of Electric Boat. the company is hiring at historic levels.

Ron Angelo. president and chief executive officer of the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, described Hire Hartford as "a generational opportunity " because of the quality of the jobs that Electric Boat is offering. 

"We can change lives with this," Angelo said.