Groton - Electric Boat told 39 employees that they will not be laid off after all, and hundreds more will keep their jobs for longer than expected.

Electric Boat notified 434 employees in January that they would be laid off in April because the company was adjusting to a downturn in its work load.

Submarine repair jobs are dwindling as the Navy diverts more work to Navy shipyards and increases the amount of time between maintenance periods for the submarines.

On Feb. 26, Electric Boat notified the state Department of Labor that 39 out of the 434 employees would not be let go, 87 employees would be laid off on April 2 as scheduled, and the layoffs for the remaining 308 employees would be staggered through Oct. 1.

Robert Hamilton, company spokesman, said submarine repair work that the company expected to get early in the year has shifted to the middle of the year.

"We need to keep a certain number of people on to accomplish that work," he said Friday.

Hamilton said the change in plans is "all tied to the ships' schedules."

EB and Northrop Grumman Newport News in Virginia will start building two submarines a year instead of one in 2011. In recent years, employees in the trades in Groton have stayed busy with submarine maintenance and modernization work.

j.grogan@theday.com