Insurance limits teen construction hiring, though that is changing, Alaska contractors say

Two Alaska construction employers and an apprenticeship instructor told school career guides and students at a state-sponsored Lunch and Learn webinar on Tuesday, Oct. 27, that insurers have long made their companies and training programs wary of hiring workers under 18, though that is starting to change.

The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development sponsored the session for the Rooted Career Guide Project, whose career guides work in schools across Alaska. A state workforce analysis released Aug. 10 found Alaska's training programs are not producing enough skilled workers for the Alaska LNG Project, where peak demand could reach about 6,600 workers.

All three presenters raised the age barrier. "Our insurance companies have always been pretty anti, you know, anybody under 18. We're just told to stay away from it," said Aaron Bartel, vice president of BC Excavating. He said the industry is actively working to change that, and that he and his friends in the business now pretty much all hire someone under 18, which was not the case five or 10 years ago.

Aspen Sanders, CEO and director of Steppers Construction, said workers there generally must be 18 to start, though the company is trying to hire younger people. Minors cannot operate power tools and air guns for insurance reasons, she said. Joseph Horning, an instructor at the Alaska Laborers Training School, said his apprenticeship program is for people 18 and over because of the insurance of the contractors it sends apprentices to, but he will hold a younger applicant's file until that person turns 18.

The employers said they weigh reliability over a resume. Bartel said over half of his company had no construction experience when hired, and some workers under 25 earn six figures without a degree. "You can teach skills, but you can't teach people how to show up and work on time," Sanders said.

Horning said apprentices start at about $28 an hour, and employers pay an additional $34 an hour on top of that for retirement, medical coverage, a legal fund and training. The apprenticeship requires at least 4,000 hours of on-the-job training across building, highway, specialty and utility construction, plus at least 144 hours of instruction a year.

Entry is competitive, Horning said. Hundreds apply, and 70 to 90 typically show up for tryouts, where applicants dig a timed trench with a pickaxe and shovel and restack a pallet of cinder blocks. Accepted apprentices get transportation to the school and their own room in a dormitory, he said.

The session was recorded and is posted on the department's career readiness page.