Closing the gap: Alaska's mining, oil service and health care industries face challenge of meeting employment needs.

The challenge of finding enough employees to fill crucial slots in any industry can reach crisis proportions. Presently, Alaska's mining, oil service and health care industries are facing challenges of finding qualified and experienced help within their individual business ranks. It's good news for Alaska's economy that unemployment in these sectors is low. But, it is a challenge for those who are responsible for finding suitable candidates to meet the job needs that are created each year within these respective industries.

Part of the challenge lies with seasonal work. According to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Research, and Analysis Section, in their December 2006 edition of Alaska Economic Trends, "The amplitude of Alaska's seasonal variation is significantly greater than in other states or the nation as a whole. In other words, the percentage difference between Alaska's seasonal high and low points are much greater than it is anywhere else in the country."

In order to fill in the gap, industries need to sometimes hire non-Alaskans to cover the jobs. A lot of times this is done through recruiting, temporary hires and advertising through trade magazines and newspapers that reach people in the Lower 48.

THE CHALLENGE OF HIRING

It's not just recruiting, interviewing and training the new hires that are the problems. Oftentimes, people need to apprentice in some of these industries. Steve Borell, executive director of the Alaska Miners Association (Anchorage), says, "Employers are having difficulty finding employees to fill jobs in two areas: Underground miners because of the skill package those folks need. You just can't train for the job-people spend years to learn how to do the job safely and effectively."

Secondly, the mining business is booming in the coal and metals markets. For the third year in a row, base and precious metals, along with coal, are running on the same price cycle, meaning that, in years past, the base and precious metals cycled in opposite price dips and surges from coal. Now, all of that has changed, and all three are on the same cycle of steady prices, without fluctuations of higher or lower prices occurring in the near future.

In regard to the lack of qualified hires for underground mining, Borell says, "We have lost a generation. There were two decades of depressed mining. All of the young people left because there weren't any jobs. The result is that there is not a large pool of people to draw from...."

James Roberts of Peak Oilfield Service Co. in Anchorage says, "Peak is a growing company, and our human resources needs generally follow Alaska's oil industry movement. When the oil patch is booming, so are we. Our human resources needs to breathe in and out with the oil industry we support. Except for spikes in specialized construction projects, we're generally busier in the winter than in the summer, and this has primarily to do with ice road construction."

Roberts explains that Peak's main thrust includes ice road construction that supports oil and gas exploration, as well as extraction in remote areas. In addition to the above services, Roberts defines all of the "core competencies" of support that Peak provides for the oil industry as "the actual movement of the massive drill rigs that go after the oil and gas; heavy hauling of equipment, materials, and supplies to support the thousands of people and companies that keep the oil flowing; lifting and picking up loads using specially designed cranes and lifting devices; performing road maintenance in all seasons; tank and vessel cleaning; facility construction and maintenance; materials and equipment fabrication; as well as pipeline and onshore development."

Roberts argues that even though they may have enough employees for the current ice road season, which lasts from December until April or May, they still need to be actively looking for hires to fill slots for the upcoming ice road season.

"Hiring for the ice road season is a year-round process," says Roberts. "First, we have a cadre of people who return to work specifically throughout the ice road season (each year)." But these folks can't always be relied on to return each season to build ice roads because "it's cold, remote, a long way from loved ones, and very physically demanding work. Not everyone comes back every year."

Second, Peak Oil Service Co. actively solicits, accepts and processes resumes for potential hires. And, they need trained people to handle the heavy equipment that they use in the Alaska climate. "Our first cut includes people who have direct experience in ice road construction, and if it sounds like rocket science, it is. It's not like there's a huge, qualified pool of applicants out there knocking our doors down with experience on the ice," Roberts explains.

Again, the need for potential hires with experience in the field is a crucial need that is sometimes hard to fix. Roberts looks for candidates with experience operating large equipment in Prudhoe Bay, even if they haven't worked on ice roads in the Bay area before applying at Peak Oil. "The point is that folks that are used to working similar equipment in similar, unforgiving, and remote areas are better suited to do this type of work."

The health care industry faces the same challenges that the mining and oil service industries face in regard to hiring enough people to fill their positions. And like the other two services that are mentioned, the health care industry also needs qualified, educated people occupying those jobs.

"The health care industry in Alaska is growing by leaps and bounds," according to Kjerstin Lastufka of Alaska Regional Hospital, an acute-care facility in Anchorage. "It's one of the fastest-growing industries in our community. Although we work closely with our local nursing school in recruitment of new graduates, our needs are mainly in critical-care nursing positions, which require a high level of experience. Techs and pharmacists also have been difficult positions to fill."

HIRING ALASKANS VS. NON-ALASKANS

Lastufka says that Alaska Regional does actively recruit for Alaska nurses, techs, and pharmacists through job fairs and local advertising. But, the hospital also reaches past Alaska into the Lower 48 to meet its employment needs.

"Our first priority is to hire Alaskans, but frankly, with four large hospitals in the Anchorage area, the competition for skilled employees is pretty high," Lastufka says. Other hiring challenges include health care workers with children, who don't want to place them in daycare; and the health care workers' spouses who might not be able to find employment in the Anchorage Bowl. Plus, living far away from family and friends, along with the six months of snow, doesn't bode well either for recruiting people to Alaska hospitals.

Borell concurs with Lastufka's attitude toward the issue of hiring Alaskans versus non-Alaskans, where he discovered that most mining companies across the state work hard to hire Alaskans. He finds that Native and resident Alaskans have family and friends already here, so their support structure is intact--this includes mining that's done in remote villages. It's sometimes easier to hire Native Alaskans from villages because their support structure is near the camps.

But, Borell also shares that sometimes mining companies must hire headhunters and place ads in newspapers to find experienced miners to fill in the employment gaps. Sometimes employees come from as far away as Nevada, a state where there are qualified miners, or from nearby, such as from neighboring Canada.

Yet, Borell has found that some mining companies are generous to those who do the recruiting for them. The companies sometimes give bonuses to employees who recruit their friends and family to apply, as well as give bonuses to anyone who signs on with the company.

TEMPORARY HIRES EASE BURDEN

"With an aging population, the need for health care workers continues to grow," Lastufka says. "And, as Anchorage's economy flourishes, an influx of people to our state creates the need for more health care. According to AEDC, Anchorage's health care sector is expected to experience a 2 percent increase in employment in 2007, with the addition of 400 jobs added to the Anchorage economy."

To help solve these dilemmas, Alaska Regional uses creative means to garner more recruits to help fill in vital positions. Lastufka states, "to fill a number of our nursing positions, we often use 'traveler agencies,' which provide nurses who work temporary assignments. These traveler nurses may stay for three to six months, allowing us to staff up during our busy periods."

Fortunately, Anchorage is home to two military bases, which opens up the possibility for more recruits. Yet, military life on bases is transitional, so many of these medical professionals are onboard for a short period of time. Alaska Regional also utilizes a mentoring program that "allows nurses to gain the experience that will eventually enable them to transition to positions that require a higher level of care," Lastufka states.

Like a chain where everyone is linked, the economy and the population's well-being hangs in the balance as the health care, mining and oil service industries strive to hire competent and trained people to fill the many gaps in their respective businesses.