Dedicated, Skilled Workforce A Major Element of Ingalls' Success

The worldwide reputation achieved by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems' Ingalls Operations can be directly attributed to the exceptional work ethic of the people of South Mississippi and Southern Alabama, as well as to an educational system that provides potential employees well prepared to acquire the on-site job training skills and certifications necessary in the construction of modern warships.

For decades, Ingalls has been a leader in workforce training along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In partnership with local community colleges and high schools, the Mississippi Department of Vocational and Technical Education, and the Gulf Coast Private Industry Council, Ingalls has developed one of the largest vocational / technical training programs in the Nation. Ingalls and its partners conduct pre-employment and on-the-job skills training, youth apprentice programs, skills upgrade and vocational classroom programs, and continuing education classes available to Ingalls' entire workforce.

Over the years, Ingalls and its partners have, utilizing corporate investments, state vocational Education funding, and Federal JTPA funding, provided job opportunities for more than 25,000 people who have been trained for shipbuilding jobs. In 1996, Ingalls earned the prestigious Theodore E. Small Award from the National Association of Private Industry Councils (NAPIC), for conducting the nation's best workforce training programs among large companies.

Ingalls maintains Collective Bargaining Agreements with the Pascagoula Metal Trades Council (comprised of unions representing boilermakers, operating engineers, sheetmetal workers, pipefitters, carpenters, painters, laborers, machinists and teamsters), as well as separate unions representing electrical workers (IBEW), office employees and security guards.