Dimon says US needs 300,000 trade workers to rebuild shipbuilding
JPMorgan’s CEO said shipyards need welders, electricians and other trades workers, with some jobs paying up to $100,000 after training.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said the United States will need 300,000 electricians, welders and other skilled trades workers to rebuild its shipbuilding capacity over the next five to 10 years. The shortage affects defense production and could open a path to jobs paying $80,000 to $100,000 a year without a four-year college degree, Dimon told CNBC.
Speaking Tuesday from the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Dimon said apprenticeship programs can move workers into well-paid trades after one or two years of training. He said those jobs support both workers and the defense industry.
Dimon said the Philadelphia Navy Yard has about 16,000 workers now and could double that workforce over the next five years as shipbuilding activity increases. JPMorgan also announced $24 million in loans and philanthropic grants tied to the yard.
According to JPMorgan, the money will support a new submarine manufacturing and assembly facility expected to create 450 permanent jobs. The bank said the funding will also expand training and apprenticeship programs for thousands of prospective welders, electricians, pipefitters and other trades workers.
Shipyard capacity lags overseas rivals
Pennsylvania Sen. David McCormick, who appeared with Dimon, said demand for skilled trades workers is strong even as artificial intelligence raises concerns about some white-collar careers. McCormick said employers cannot find enough experienced welders and electricians.
The Philadelphia yard shows the size of the gap facing U.S. shipbuilding. Hanwha, the South Korean shipbuilder, bought the yard in 2024 for $100 million, according to Fortune.
David Kim, CEO of Hanwha Philly Shipyard, told CBS News that the Philadelphia operation currently delivers about one to one-and-a-half ships a year, while shipyards in South Korea deliver ships at a pace he described as roughly one a week. Fortune reported that the Philadelphia apprenticeship program can handle about 20 trainees at a time, compared with about 400 at Hanwha facilities in South Korea.
The labor problem extends beyond Pennsylvania. WHRO reported that Virginia’s Hampton Roads region faces an estimated shortage of 10,000 shipyard workers, a gap projected to reach 40,000 by 2030.
Huntington Ingalls Industries, which operates major shipyards in Newport News, Virginia, and Pascagoula, Mississippi, invests more than $110 million a year in workforce development, according to Fortune. CEO Chris Kastner said on the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call in May that HII hired more than 1,600 shipbuilders in the quarter and graduated nearly 200 apprentices this year.
Companies put money into trades training
Other companies are also funding skilled-trades pipelines. Lowe’s announced a $250 million commitment to train 250,000 workers in plumbing, carpentry, electrical work and related fields over the next decade, according to Fortune.
BlackRock committed $100 million to train 50,000 workers over five years, Fortune reported. Meta launched a $115 million program in June called America’s Workforce Academy, aimed at training data center technicians through a five-week program that includes a guaranteed job at one of Meta’s sites after completion.
Rachel Peterson, Meta’s vice president of data centers, said at the time that the United States needs hundreds of thousands of electricians, mechanics, fiber technicians and other skilled workers.
By 2030, about 2.1 million skilled-trades jobs could go unfilled, according to a JLL analysis of U.S. Department of Education data cited by Fortune. JLL estimated the annual economic losses could reach $1 trillion.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.