A report by the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development shows that nonresident hires in Alaska grew in 2014, continuing a four-year trend.
The state’s nonresident hire rate reached 20.8 percent in that year and out-of-state workers took home $2.6 billion in wages.
Some of the key findings of the report showed:
- the number of nonresident workers grew by 1,691, more than the number of new jobs that were created for Alaskan residents which was just 1,478.
- Nonresident wages grew 1.4 percent more than Alaskan residents. Nonresident workers’ wages grew by 4.9 percent versus in-state workers wages only growing by 3.5 percent.
- Alaska’s oil industry created 515 new jobs for nonresidents versus only the 210 new jobs for Alaskan residents. The percentage of nonresident workers in the oil industry grew to 35 percent.
- The construction industry created 604 new jobs for nonresidents and only 499 new jobs for Alaska residents, as the percentage of nonresidents in the construction industry grew to 22.2%.
Labor Commissioner Heidi Drygas said ina release: “This report highlights the need for Alaska Hire policies, and that is exactly what we’re focused on”.
Governor Bill Walker’s administration has implemented multiple in-state hire initiatives since he took office.
In June 2015 the governor worked with Drygas to restore the Alaska Hire requirements requiring Alaskans be hired for at least 90 percent of construction jobs on state projects.
He also signed an administrative order in November of last year to expand apprenticeship programs across the state.