Youth Apprenticeship Program Bears Fruit at Austal

Fifteen recent graduates of the Mobile County Public School System (MCPSS) have been hired at Austal, NBC 15 reported. Christina Sashington of Davidson High School, who is now a trade assistant at the company, was interviewed. Among students who were part of a youth apprenticeship program at Austal, Mobile’s largest manufacturing employer, she was part of the two-thirds of participants offered full-time positions upon graduation. Now welding on the job, she said, “Some of my classmates are struggling right now to get jobs since COVID-19 came out, and everyone’s closing down and everything, but I’m really enjoying it.” Austal Diversity Manager Napoleon Bracy added, “These students are 18 years old; they have very competitive wages [at $15.10 an hour]; they’re full-time Austal employees with full-time benefits; they’re a part of the Austal family; they have the same benefits that all of us have that work here; and it’s just a great opportunity for them.” “It’s a very rigorous and competitive process, so all of these students went through an application process and then a competitive interview process through Austal,” according to MCPSS Career Technical Education Supervisor Danielle Booth.