Newport News Shipbuilding
• 125 year history designing, building, overhauling and
repairing ships for the Navy, the Coast Guard and
commercial trade
• Sole supplier of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, the world’s
largest and most complex warships
• One of only two builders constructing the Virginia-class
nuclear submarines
• Exclusive provider of refueling services for nuclearpowered aircraft carriers
• Largest non-government provider of fleet maintenance
services to the Navy
• Immense capability
• 550 acres on the James River at Hampton Roads
• Largest industrial employer in Virginia—more than
20,000 employees
• Large “order book” and work backlog
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We are Shipbuilders
• Our People are the reason for our
Success
• Over 500 Master Shipbuilders
(40 years or more)
• All varieties of careers are available in
the Shipbuilding business
Engineers
Business Management
Electricians
Welders
Pipefitters
Facilities
• We our part of a proud legacy of building
“always good ships” and recognizing that
our products protect the nation and
safely sustain the men and women who
serve on them.
Never send an American into a fair fight!
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The workforce is changing
• The workforce is aging
– National demographic / local impact
– Retiring workers will leave significant gaps in
knowledge, skills, and experienced craftsmanship
• Workforce training is costly
– >$8000 / employee in the first year alone
• Most workers we hire need additional training
– Workforce ready  Shipbuilder ready
– Craft work requires high level skill sets
– Technology is constantly evolving
• Newport News Shipbuilding will hire over
4,000 new employees in the next three years
The technology we’ll use every day 8 years from now, hasn’t been invented yet.
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Meeting the challenge
• Job postings – Shipbuilder ready – the real truth
– Candidate must be proficient in Math/Algebra/Physics: understand summation of
moments to determine center of gravity for crane lifts
– Candidate should also be able to use trigonometry: evaluate potential lift load and
determine proper sling angle. The length of the sling or distance between lift points
is calculated to determine the sling angle.
– Candidate should be able to use geometry to calculate load weight
• Valid planning
– Multiple pathways to advance shipbuilding as a career choice – Career Pathways
– Education collaborates to prepare curricula to meet knowledge and skill gaps
• Continuing Education
– Meet changing technology requirements – retooling – primarily STEM subject
matter
– Support advancing leadership within organizations
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Newport News Shipbuilding
a Career Pathways Business Partner
Worksite Opportunities
A Worksite Opportunity
(WSO) is a way to expose
students, at varying
educational stages, to the
world of work as well as
provide them the opportunity
to explore potential career
opportunities within the visited
business.
Huntington Middle School
Partnership
NNS partners with Huntington
Middle School for year-round
participation in community
events hosted by the school
including the Apprentice
School Career Readiness
Team, tutoring, club activities,
career fairs, and more.
Speakers Bureau
Informed professionals
volunteer in the Newport News
schools to give engaging
presentations to students of all
grade levels. The goal is to
expose students to a wide
range of career possibilities.
Job Shadowing
Job shadowing helps
students explore a range of
career objectives and select
majors for high school. A
student follows an employee
for one or more days to
learn about a particular
occupation or industry.
Club Activities
Internships
Club/Activity volunteers from NNS
meet with students for fun,
problem-solving activities to
provide exposure to the different
careers available within Newport
News Shipbuilding and also to
develop Career Readiness skills.
Newport News Shipbuilding
provides internship
opportunities to students and
teachers that will transfer
classroom knowledge to real life
work experiences at NNS.
Business / Education Partnership in Practice
Working with the Public Schools
• Connecting with students
– Visit classrooms/meet with students
• E.g. Elementary School Spanish class / Gamesa partnership
– Mentor students/career cafes – provide learning opportunities
• E.g. Lead boat building and egg drop competitions to illustrate applied
scientific principles in a fun environment
– Provide internship / job shadow / job site opportunities
• Engineer for a day…shadow design engineers at work and in conversation
with customers
• Professional development for teachers
– Summer Teacher Internship program
• Teachers work at the Yard within Yard Operations Overview program
• Learn how academic subjects are applied; develop curriculum components
for their classes that are shared among teachers
Business / Education Partnership in Practice
Working with the Community Colleges – scalable and profitable
• Customized pre-employment training
– The Welder pilot with Thomas Nelson Community College
• student is selected for participation by TNCC
• trains at TNCC using NNS requirements, techniques
• successful student is hired as a regular full time employee
– As compared to an “off the street” hire
• CC completers take 40% less time to certify (10 - 12 weeks to 6 – 8 weeks)
– Associated labor cost and training material costs savings
• CC completers know what to expect – they stay on the job
– Attrition reduced 45%
– Training (certification) program “wash out” rate reduced to <10%
• Implemented programs for welders, marine electricians, and blast &
coat workers
– Results and ROI remains high
Joint Business / Education Partnerships Work
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Participate in joint pipelines/pathways
Visit classrooms/meet with students
Mentor students/career cafes
Provide co-op or internship opportunities – paid / unpaid
Establish apprenticeships
Participate in career fairs
Customize and pay for pre-hire training
Sponsor scholarships
Participate in joint professional development
Provide subject matter experts to guide faculty development
Verify national models/certifications meet your employment
requirements
• Serve on curriculum committees, advisory boards
Get off of the sidelines and get in the game – do what you can do