Pros
Great workplace culture. Good benefits such as a pension help compensate for the average pay. Very secure employment. The shipyard has work lined up for years. Work/life balance is much better with the government than private industry.
Cons
The traffic just to get on and off the yard is in a word, disgusting. I have worked here for 5 years and have watched the traffic get steadily worse every year. Since the shipyard is an island the only access is via 2 bridges which bottleneck the traffic. Expect to spend 30-45 minutes in traffic both coming to and leaving work if you're arriving at peak times like most people. That's over an hour of "unpaid work" per day, so make sure to account for that when you're considering the financials of working here. Some people who don't start work until 7:00 AM get in line at 5:30, sit in traffic for 30 minutes to get on yard for 6:00 and then sit in their car for an hour all so they can get a good parking spot. The purpose of this is because the absolute worst traffic is at 3:30 PM when the majority of workers are allowed to leave, so if you have a spot closer to the exit you'll be able to get out in 20-30 minutes instead of 45 minutes on your way home. Traffic reached a tipping point when we crossed about 6,000 full-time employees. It is not going to get better soon, since the shipyard is looking to hire an additional 2,000-3,000 workers over the next few years to meet their growing workload. Management acknowledges the issue, but has done nothing about the worsening traffic and parking problem in the 5 years that I have worked here other than hand waving and empty promises that they're "thinking of things behind the scenes." I would have loved to continue my career at the shipyard but I simply cannot tolerate spending an hour of my life sitting in traffic at the yard every day, on top of the time I already spend commuting. Make sure you know what you are getting into, especially if you're committing to moving here from far away for a job. New hires from the area frequently say things like "I had heard the traffic at this place was bad, but I didn't realize it was this bad."
