Seafood Industry Needs Workers Immediately

Seafood employers may not have enough workers to process salmon and pollock this summer. There are already over 700 openings listed with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development's Job Centers. "We have serious concerns about this season; just getting enough workers. The return rate of seasonal workers is way down this year, and we need 90 workers by July 3rd," says Mike Timberman, Assistant Plant Manager of E.C. Phillips and Son in Ketchikan, commenting on his and other plants where labor will be a problem.

Large numbers of seafood workers are needed immediately for the next 7 weeks in Kenai, for the next 5 weeks in Bristol Bay, for the next 6 to 8 weeks in the Cordova/Valdez area, and for the next 8 weeks in Southeast Alaska (Note: some companies provide transportation to work sites and have room and board incentives, dependent upon completion of the work contract.)

There are three ways to find information on seafood processing jobs:

1. Go to your nearest Alaska Job Center or call (907) 465-8900.
2. Call Laurie Fuglvog toll-free in the Alaska Department of Labor Seafood Employment Unit at 1-800-473-0688; have a pen and paper ready.
3. Go to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development's "Seafood Jobs In Alaska" Internet page, through the following web address:
www.jobs.state.ak.us, click on "Seafood Jobs" and on "Current Openings."

The Anchorage Job Center, located at 3301 Eagle Street, has Seafood Job Orientations at 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. daily, Monday through Friday. Interested workers should go directly to the orientation or call the Anchorage Seafood Hotline at (907) 269-4770, extension 7, for daily-recorded updates.

Seafood Processing Companies throughout Prince William Sound are currently working at full-capacity, to keep up with this year's great sockeye salmon runs, now at their peak. Community Seafood Employment Specialists in Alaska Job Centers are ready to call in, screen, and dispatch local and rural Alaskans for temporary jobs processing salmon and pollock.

Mike Timberman of E.C. Phillips and Son in Ketchikan can be contacted at: (907) 225-3121