REPORT ON CURRENT LABOR MARKET SITUATION IN ALASKA
January 2, 1946
Many persons are apparently keeping their promise to themselves of ’’going to Alaska as soon as this war is over”. Every boat and plane brings in people in search of the ’’rainbow’s end”, but many of them fail to realize that the end of the war affected the employment situation in Alaska a great deal more than in many other large areas. During the war Alaska provided employment for an unlimited number of war workers on vital defense projects, but the abrupt return to a peace time status, coming as it did at the end of Alaska’s normal industrial season, released numbers of workers so that with the return of our veterans, unemployment is increasing rapidly. Additionally, many people are arriving daily from every section of the United States who think that there are still plenty of jobs in Alaska.
Not only are jobs scarce, but there are no houses, no apartments, and few hotel rooms where one can stay. Those which can be obtained are expensive, as prices have not returned to peace-time levels.
The fishing industry will not resume activities until about the last of March and in must industries much later, and indications are that there will be sufficient workers in Alaska to supply all operators with full complements in addition to their regular crews who are rehired each season
The mining industry will undoubtedly resume operations again this coming spring, after four years of idleness, provided that workers will accept the lower wages offered, 860 to 98^0 an hour, for a forty hour week, with a minimum amount of overtime. The majority of workers for this industry will be semi-skilled and only a few will have to be hired from the States. Most mining operations will be retarded further by lack of equipment, most of which operators released to the military 3 years ago and has thus far, for the most part, not been returned.
The construction industry will devote itself mostly to commercial and private requirements • These will be held back somewhat by a shortage of materials•
Job openings for the Territory decreased from 465 to 211 since October 4, 1945. Unemployment has increased during the same period from 620 to 1,185. Where we had l4 persons for each job available in October, 23 now have approximately 6 for each job.
There are no large projects under way at this writing which require any recruitment outside the Territory. Attached is a list of the job openings as of the end of December. It is quite likely that all openings can be filled within the Territory, except for a few skilled craftsmen and professional-clerical workers.
The extent to which the USES can help in a recruitment program was ably demonstrated during December for the Naval Operations Base at Kodiak. For months the recruitment of civilians for the Navy Department in Alaskawas stymied because of the requirement that Standard C.S© Forms had to be completed for each applicant, forwarded to the Naval Base and subsequently to the 11th Civil Service Regional Office in Seattle for processing and re turn. Meanwhile applicants would lose interest or find other employment.
When unemployment began to mount rapidly in December, and the Navy also started recruitment in Seattle for 139 workers in 14 classifications without so much as notifying our office of its needs, we felt that some positive action should be taken to see that the Navy gave consideration to the many persons seeking employment in Alaska. Consequently a direct, personal visit was arranged between the USES and NOB officials which resulted in a comprehensive program to be conducted in each local Territorial USES office by a competent NOB representative with authority to interview, hire and arrange transportation for all acceptable applicants. Results to date, with one more office to be visited, the Navy recruiter has interviewed 181 persons, hired 104, and it is believed the last office will account for 45 interviews with an estimate of 25 hires or a final approximate total of 226 interviews with 129 hires.
Consequently much closer cooperation with the Navy and better understanding of the help which USES can give all employers was made possible through the complete coordination of the personnel and facilities of each organization, and Alaska’s unemployment problem has been materially relieved.
Inquiries received since October 1 from persons interested in employment in Alaska number 1,120, of which 400 were from women and a large majority of the remainder from veterans. The attached page, covering an interview with Governor Gruening as reported in an article in the Ladd Field Midnight Sun (Fairbanks) of December 8, 1945, should be of general interest to many and especial interest to veterans.
Following is a chart showing the trend during the last quarter of 1945 of claims, contacts, referrals, and placements:
U .C • Claims			Total	Oct.	Nov. 648	Dec© .1615 .
1. Initial		126	209	334
2. Continued		225	439	1281
SRA Claims			Total	45	104	108
Office Contacts....	Total	5794	5612	8829
1. Veterans		502	496	1009
2. Non-Veterans		5292	5116	7820
Referrals••••••••••	Total	1220	J2.2O	1023
1. Veterans		300	242	271
2. Non-Veterans		920	678	752
Fla cements • ••<>•....	Total	783		726
1. Veterans		196	226	188
2© Non-Veterans		587	533	538