Alaska’s minimum wage will increase to $8.75 an hour on February 24, 2015, which according to the Department of Labor will affect around 16,000 Alaskans.
Before the November election where Alaskans decided to raise minimum wage, Alaska Chamber of Commerce President Rachel Petro conducted an unofficial survey which found that most employers here on the Peninsula pay above minimum wage.
Now the state chamber of commerce is forecasting what the wage hike might mean.
Petro: “For those folks who have minimum wage employees that compete in a global market that will affect their bottom line so as businesses do we get creative, I’m sure that there will be technological advances and there will be a higher bar for entry into the workplace so probably less opportunities for our youth to get entry level work, which is what we’ve seen across the country with minimum wage hikes.”
The measure will also increase the minimum wage to $9.75 per hour on January 1, 2016 and adjust to cost inflation thereafter.
January 1, 2010 was the last time that Alaska’s minimum wage was raised due to a June 2009 legislation calling for a wage 50 cents above federal minimum wage.
