The country’s largest builder of warships is keeping more of its shipyard workers after boosting wages and hiring better-qualified recruits, said HII CEO Chris Kastner on Thursday.
“From a labor perspective, we have hired over 4,600 shipbuilders year-to-date and our retention rates have improved at both shipyards. At Newport News, we’ve seen an increase in experienced hires following the wage investment this summer and increased hiring from regional workforce development pipelines, which provides more proficient incoming shipbuilders,” Kastner said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. “These are important steps to stabilize and level up the experience of our workforce.”
Earlier this year, HII said it would hire fewer new or green shipyard workers and increase pay to attract more seasoned talent—an effort supported by the Navy’s maritime industrial base funding. So far, the strategy seems to be paying off at HII’s Newport News yard in Virginia; the company is still in union negotiations at its Ingalls facility in Mississippi. Kastner was light on details when asked about wage increases for workers in the pending agreement.
“We’re in discussions with the union at Ingalls. That union agreement expires next year. We’re hoping to get that in place [by the] beginning of next year—maybe [the] end of this year,” he said. “It makes it a bit more complicated because we have to engage with the union to get that done.”
HII is also on track for an overall 15 percent throughput increase compared to 2024—thanks in part to labor improvements and more outsourcing. Kastner said wage bumps at Newport News reduced attrition and led to hiring of more experienced workers.
“It’s been pretty positive at Newport News and the effect of those wages has been positive and in reduced attrition. We’re probably most excited about repositioning the experience level of the workforce, where we have more experience,” he said. “We’re also hiring about 50 percent out of what we call the pipeline, which are the regional workforce development centers, the apprentice schools, and the high school programs, which is very positive. Newport News labor is doing well, kind of cautiously optimistic and we hope to keep it going.”
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