Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Announces Hiring Freeze, Workers Brace for Potential Mass Layoffs

Unions at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard are bracing for potential mass layoffs as part of billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts to dramatically reduce the federal workforce, including at the shipyard which employs nearly 8,000 people, including 4,300 Mainers. On Monday, union leaders at the shipyard also confirmed that it has been ordered to enact a hiring freeze.

Last Friday, Alana Schaefer, president of the Metal Trades Council, told reported that union leaders were hearing there will be major layoffs of federal employees of several agencies nationwide, including the shipyard.

"End of the story is, we don't know. What we do here at the shipyard is essential to national security," said Eudes James, president of Local 4 of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers,. "We've put in a lot of work to hire people. To turn around and just let them go doesn't seem right."

On Monday, news outlets reported that civilian employees at the shipyard have been notified by the Office of Personnel Management in Washington DC, the federal government’s human resources office, that they will be required to report their previous week's achievements to their immediate supervisor. OPM had previously paused a directive for federal workers to submit five bullet points detailing their prior week's accomplishments within 48 hours of receiving the emailed request in late February.

However, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sent another email out on Monday with the subject line "What Did You Do Last Week” asking civilian employees to respond with bullet point descriptions, excluding classified or sensitive information within 48 hours. For employees without computer access, the memo directed their managers to directly address the directive with employees.

"The conflicting direction from multiple government entities has caused employees to be distracted from their important work due to the anxiety of potentially losing their long-earned career serving their country," said Metal Trades Council President Schaeffer in a statement. "These people can’t simply be replaced. They are specifically trained and experienced in building and repairing the greatest warships known to man. Requiring them to take time away from these important duties is the opposite of efficiency."

On Feb. 24, the shipyard announced it had entered a hiring freeze and canceled a recruiting event that was scheduled for Tuesday, March 4. About 145 employees who accepted a dubious buy-out offer from Elon Musk are set to leave this week.

More Questionable Claims of Government Fraud

Meanwhile, Elon Musk continues to make up stories of fraud to justify his cuts to critical services. On Joe Rogan’s podcast Musk recently made the claim that Senator Susan Collins had secured $12 million to build submarines at the shipyard, but not submarines were built.

“Only the federal government could get away with this level of waste,” he said.

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard doesn’t build submarines. It overhauls, repairs, and modernizes the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered submarines. It appears Musk was referring to a $12 million contract awarded in 2019 to Cianbro to expand an outdated warehouse facility that will help the shipyard receive, inspect, and distribute submarine components for worldwide fleet support. The latest whopper is one of several lies Musk has spread about alleged government fraud to justify mass layoffs, including baseless claims that 150-year old dead people are receiving Social Security benefits and that a large number of dead people are on the government payroll.