Increase Worker Supply Based on Labor Market Information
Alaska‘s economic climate grew colder with the end to the two-decade long period of employment growth this past year of performance. With rising unemployment and longer job search intervals, Alaska’s labor force was in more need of assistance from the state’s workforce development enterprise. The Division mitigates anticipated labor force shortages and designs strategies to increase worker supply based upon Alaska’s labor market information and feedback from business and industry. An example is the Alaska Integrated Workforce Development Plan for Title 1 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and the Wagner-Peyser Act, which identifies the state’s workforce investment priorities as:
- Alaska‘s youth will be job ready when they complete high school.
- Alaska will have a world class workforce ready to meet the needs of Alaska‘s high skill, high demand jobs.
- Alaska‘s post-secondary vocational and technical training facilities and professional education system will provide world class training using state-of-the-art equipment and technology.
- Alaska‘s businesses will have the support and resources to compete in the global market.
Access the Job Training web page for more information on the WIA job training programs.
Non-resident hire reports, demographics of Alaska’s labor force and in demand industry analysis are examples of the many labor market data sources the Division relies upon to develop workforce strategies resulting in participant employment. Evidence that Alaska’s aging workforce will create labor shortages particularly in high demand occupations, drove the development of the Career Guide model in the Alaska Youth First Initiative, and the creation of the Alaska Construction Academy. Recent demands and job growth in the health care industry prompted an industry specific Career Guide working in Anchorage School District’s King Career Center.