Part of Solution to Workforce Shortage
It started last year. Nearly every single person who streamed into my office, no matter the sector, no matter the industry, no matter the region of the state, each was singing the same tune, and it was the blues. Everybody was moaning about the workforce shortage in Alaska.
The reasons were aplenty: families moving out of state for jobs and affordable living, workers figuring out new gigs from home post-covid, baby boomers hanging up their hats and retiring, young people seeking adventure elsewhere. Every sector was, and still is, complaining.
We can and we should tackle this problem from all angles. We should remove barriers that inhibit a strong economy – burdensome regulations, licensing delays, state fiscal uncertainty. We should enhance what makes a strong economy – good schools, affordable healthcare, transportation infrastructure. We should ensure the training offered in the state is training young people want that leads to rewarding work.
We need to work on doing all these things, but the reality is, that still won’t be enough.
We are missing access to a whole lot of able-bodied working age adults who want to work but are hitting an obstacle. How many? I don’t know the specific statistic for Alaska, but one in three Americans have a record that keeps them from getting a job. Whoa. One in three is a lot.
What if those who committed a minor crime (not against a person, a minor, not with a weapon, no violence involved) served their time, paid their debt to society and ten, twenty years have passed. They’ve stayed clean, abided by the law. Is this a group of potential workers that could help our workforce shortage problem?
We must realize that we have some Alaskans who want to work, should work, and we need to work, but they’re prevented from working. That means for most if not all of these Alaskans, we are supporting them as a state. They are receiving public assistance, Medicaid, food stamps, housing help, and more. We spend well over $1 billion on these programs each and every year.
Put that in the context that the state is just about broke. Savings are running low. This budget cycle, based on available incoming revenue, we’re $850 million short for the operating and capital budgets – and that is without a penny increase for the schools which are asking for a few hundred million dollars additional this year and every year and that is without a reinstatement of the pension retirement system that the unions are urging.
What if we as a state could save hundreds of millions on our state budget if we could figure out how those barred from getting good jobs could one day fill the need of employers across Alaska?
Could this be part of Alaska’s workforce shortage solution? Could this be part of our budget solution?
With distaste of SB91 still in our mouths, would legislators, would the public support this? I don’t know.
I met a woman who twenty years prior, as a young, single mom with 4 children under age 6 and unaware of her bank balance, wrote a bad $87 check at Walmart buying groceries for her children. She was arrested. She went to jail. She carried that record with her, and it trapped her in poverty.
What if we were to say: “You’ve paid your debt. You made a mistake. We don’t want you 20 years later to stay in poverty. We don’t want you 20 years after abiding by the law, to stay on public assistance, to depend on Medicaid and food stamps. We actually want you to break the cycle of generational poverty and be able to climb the economic ladder America offers to those who are motivated.
What if we were to make a way for this woman? What if we were to make a way for others like her?
I see a triple advantage. Employers would have access to a new pool of workers. Our state would be released from the financial burden of expensive health and social services for these individuals. The individuals would have their dignity back and the satisfaction of taking care of themselves and not being dependent on the government. It’s a triple win. The employers win. The state wins. The individual wins. A win-win-win.
Senator Shelley Hughes has focused on reducing crime by ensuring individuals are equipped to be productive citizens after they serve their time. She frequently points out that two-thirds of inmates will eventually be back in our communities, “Do we want them to commit new crimes and wreak havoc in our neighborhoods or do we want them to have turned over a new leaf?” The senator participated in an NCSL meeting this past week to explore workforce shortage solutions.
