From the outbox of Meyer’s inbox:
Great John Wayne movie, “North to Alaska.” Of course the Duke was rushing up there to get in on the gold rush action. But have you considered relocating for a job? Looks like they’re going to need a lot of skilled trades people up in the Klondike. Maybe we need to get the Bossman’s mission video up there to fire up the locals! Right now their mandate is to “hire from within.” How long before you would have to be living there to be considered a resident? Could mean steady work for years. Of course, then there’s the cold. Which begs the question, how far would you pick up and move for a job or even a job prospect? Anyone have a story to share?
PROPOSED GAS PIPELINE PROJECTS FACE IN-STATE LABOR SHORTFALL by Elizabeth Bluemink writing for the Anchorage Daily News
The Alaska labor force may be headed for a historic test: building a North Slope gas pipeline. But it remains an open question how many of those thousands of high-paying jobs could be filled by state residents versus nonresidents.
Even if the long-sought gas line linking the Slope’s vast gas deposits to Lower 48 markets is delayed for years, Alaska faces a labor crunch. Many workers in the state’s major industries are nearing retirement age.
“We do know there’s a gap,” said Gerry Andrews, who runs the Alaska Department of Labor’s gas-line job education and training initiative. Under the proposed timeline for gas line construction, many of the skilled workers needed for such a project — welders, truck drivers and engineers, to name a few — will retire before it begins, economists say.
Even though no one has committed to build a gas line yet, the Labor Department is under a legal mandate to prepare Alaskans for jobs in construction and operation of the pipeline.
“There’s a grave concern about our work force,” said Rick Rios, the Anchorage School District’s coordinator of career and technical education.
RAISING STUDENTS
Rios is part of the statewide push to better prepare students for gas line jobs and reverse the aging of the state’s work force. He said he’s already seeing a few results. Three years ago, he said, the state funded one construction academy to provide hands-on training for high school students in Anchorage. Now, legislative funding has expanded construction academies to five school districts, with nearly 1,000 students signed up for classes this year.
Rios said the students he talks to are eager for work. “We had 20 seniors sign up for a (carpentry) institute over spring break — an eight-day, intensive study,” Rios said.
You can read the rest of the article here.
