Officials at the Savannah River National Laboratory at the Savannah River Site expect to hire about 200 new people every year through 2026, a sign of gradual growth as the lab begins operating under new management.
The projected hiring is the result of many “drivers” or motivators, said Dr. Vahid Majidi, the director at the national lab.
“So, the expectation is, as we look into the future, we’ve implemented a lot of new technologies, a lot of new capabilities. And we do have a workforce that’s retiring year by year, and we’re bringing a new workforce in,” Majidi said at the Aiken Rotary Club’s Monday luncheon.
New capacities at the lab and novel “money-bringing programs,” Majidi continued, ultimately translate to making more hires.
Savannah River National Lab currently employs about 1,000 people. About 11,000 people are employed at the Savannah River Site, more broadly.
The lab, one of 17 across the U.S., has its hands in energy, national security, nuclear nonproliferation and environmental cleanup work, among other things, and is home to one-of-a-kind facilities. As Majidi has previously put it: “We do work for everybody.”
The Department of Energy in February authorized Battelle Savannah River Alliance to begin its takeover of the lab, approximately two months after the team won the next management contract. Savannah River National Lab has for years been overseen by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, the top contractor at SRS.
Majidi is staying on with Battelle Savannah River Alliance.