Alaska lacks the skilled workers for the LNG project, a report says

Alaska's training programs are not producing enough skilled workers to fill the roughly 6,600 jobs projected at peak construction of the Alaska LNG Project, according to a new workforce analysis from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Statewide peak demand climbs to about 8,600 workers if other prospective projects — the Donlin Gold Mine, Graphite One and the Port of Nome — end up under construction at the same time. The analysis concludes that demand is expected to outstrip Alaska's current training output.

State officials cast the findings in an upbeat light. "This report shows Alaska starts from a position of strength," said Commissioner Cathy Muñoz. Gov. Mike Dunleavy urged residents to begin training now, saying any Alaskan who wants to work on the project "will have an opportunity to play a role in this great effort."

But closing that gap with Alaskans would take more than willing trainees. Apprenticeship programs and postsecondary providers would have to expand enrollment, throughput and instructor capacity, a buildout that takes sustained public investment. The same state now urging Alaskans to train also funds much of that training, and its own 2018 gasline workforce plan warned, even then, that demand would outstrip local supply.

How fast training can scale is contested. Alaska's building trades unions have pushed for labor agreements that maximize local hiring and training, while Associated Builders and Contractors argues the state should not narrow the field. "The state should protect maximum opportunity, maximum competition, and maximum Alaska hire," ABC's Alicia Maltby told the Alaska Gasline Caucus in August.

Alaska News has covered the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee's April hearing on the LNG workforce plan, where consultants said the state must act immediately for construction that could begin as soon as 2027. Northern Industrial Training prepared the analysis for the Alaska Workforce Investment Board.