Norshipco hopes layoffs are temporary

Norshipco shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia, part of the United States Marine Repair, America’s leading non-nuclear ship repair and conversion company, will lay off 400 people in what the shipyard hopes will be a short-term economic move.

Company officials say that, for the first time in years, there’s hardly any ship repair work.

The layoffs began in June and should be complete by the end of August. Officials hope to have everyone back at work in October, at the beginning of the government’s fiscal year.