Newport News, VA- 738 workers at Newport News Shipbuilding will have their last day of work Wednesday.
The layoffs come several months after 480 employees were laid off from the shipyard in September. All of the layoffs are part of about 1,500 layoffs announced in July that are expected to take place over the next two years.
Officials blame the layoffs on what they call a workload valley. As work on 3 carriers -The USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Enterprise, and the USS Gerald R. Ford -wrap up, officials say the workload will decrease. Therefore, they must decrease the workforce as well.
Previous: Newport News Shipbuilding to lay off 738 workers
President of the shipyard, Matt Mulherin reminded employees that workload valley has a beginning and an end. This being the beginning as they're having to layoff workers. He said the end is expected to come in 2017 when the workload increases again.
In the meantime, officials say they will be providing benefits and transition assistance to the unemployed to help them in finding other employment.
