Groton — Electric Boat is in the midst of a big push to hire about 200 engineers and more than 400 designers as it tweaks the design of its Virginia-class submarines and gears up for conceptual work on a new destroyer and aircraft carrier.

This is the first significant increase in EB's employment picture since a rise in sub production bumped up the labor force from 9,400 to 11,400 between 2001 and 2003, according to figures provided by the company. EB currently employs about 10,500 people, nearly a third of whom are engineers and designers.

The company needs the workers as soon as possible, but will likely be hiring through the summer as it entices engineering talent graduating this year from colleges and universities around the country, especially in the Northeast.

Jack Morgan, director of engineering for the local submarine manufacturer, said Friday that he normally has to hire about 140 engineers annually to keep up with attrition. But he has stepped up entry-level hiring in response to new projects, including partnerships with Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. in Virginia on a next-generation aircraft carrier (CVNX) and Bath Iron Works in Maine on a new Zumwalt-class destroyer (DDG 1000).

In addition, EB is readying conceptual work on a new propulsion plant for the next, unnamed submarine class and hopes to wind up contracting with the British government to help design its next-generation ballistic sub, Morgan said.

“We have a need for 200 engineers, which is more than normal,” Morgan said. “And I expect that will grow” as design work on a new submarine class gets under way sometime between 2010 and 2012.

Tom Purcell, design manager at EB, said he got word last March that the company would need 50 extra entry-level designers. By July, the demand had increased to 150. In December, the number had kicked up to 416.

“Some of the work is being driven by the quality of the work we do,” said Robert Hamilton, director of communications at EB.

But EB has been losing design talent at a fast pace. While 145 to 150 people were hired into the design department between last March and December, about 55 to 60 were lost to attrition, Purcell said.

Part of the reason for attrition is the large number of older workers EB employs. For instance, the average employee in the design department is currently 49 years old and has 21 years of service. The average EB employee overall is 46.

EB employees have aged as the company shed more than 17,000 jobs in the past 30 years, reacting to cutbacks in Navy submarine-construction contracts. The jobs lost were mostly among the least senior employees.

The company has started rehiring some of the people let go in its downsizing, the most recent of which led to nearly 1,000 job losses in a recent three-year period, but for the most part the new hires are at the entry level, said Gene Harper, EB's manager of human resources. EB prefers entry-level hires because its specialized work requires extensive re-training for experienced engineers — a costly proposition.

The company has had some success, however, in hiring former military professionals and ex-shipbuilding workers, Harper said.

To get out the word about its need for new workers, EB has plans to visit about 75 colleges over the next few months, mostly in New England.

EB has had success in hiring engineers straight out of college, but it isn't easy because a lot of businesses are looking for engineering talent, Harper said. The fact that, for security reasons, EB can hire only U.S. citizens makes it that much tougher, he said.

To target a larger design force, EB will soon be kicking off an apprentice program at the region's high schools and tech schools. EB has not had an apprentice program in force at the high-school level for a number of years, because of the slowdown in sub construction.

“It's a great way to learn a trade and get a college degree and earn a paycheck — six figures, easily,” Harper said.

Harper also looks to attract talent from tech schools throughout New England, but he said the number of qualified students in such programs has dropped off over the years.

In order to get the word out locally, EB has contacted the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board, and it has responded by finding grants for programs to train designers. New London Adult Education and Three Rivers Community College have been enlisted to provide the programs.

Three Rivers offers an apprenticeship program that fast-tracks graduates into jobs at EB during an eight-week drafting course. In addition, EB directs people who apply for jobs without the requisite drafting skills to an assessment program at New London Adult Education. Those who pass muster can qualify for a job by passing an Internet course on basic drafting skills.

Twenty of the first 30 students to take the online course are progressing well, Harper said. Another 30 are currently going through a round of assessments, which look at math, writing and computer skills.

EB also offers summer internships to aspiring engineers and designers who are rising seniors in high school. Last year, 75 positions were open; this summer, EB plans to hire 84 students.

“A lot of these students go back to their school and tell their friends they went to work at EB. They're good ambassadors,” Harper said.

In addition, EB is planning a major job fair at the shipyard from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 1. Interested workers are asked to go to EB's Web site at www.gdeb.com to apply.

“The best thing we can do is show our product,” Harper said, adding that when engineers take one look at the complexity and magnificence of a nuclear submarine, they are hooked.

Harper said the last few years of declines in shipbuilding at EB aside, he sees no reason why young people today wouldn't want to turn their talents to a challenging field like submarine design and construction.

“Nobody's got a guaranteed job,” he said. “But we've been here over 100 years, and we're going to be here many years to come.”

l.howard@theday.com

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