State labor officials, with an emphasis on Alaska hire, are screening applicants via telephone interviews and collecting their resumes, then forwarding to prospective employers those matching processor needs.
In normal times, many processors would have their own representatives at state employment offices to do their own screening, but in the midst of the pandemic, crowding of prospective employees into state labor department offices is not an option.
Labor Department spokesman Sal Sasol in Anchorage, Alaska, said his staff is also making direct connection with officials in rural communities where the processing takes place to inquire about the availability of residents to fill those jobs.
Job seekers may view a 20-minute seafood processing orientation video available online at https://jobs.alaska.gov/seafood/processing.html to learn what to expect in these jobs.
Current seafood processing recruitment fliers with self-referral instructions are posted at http://www.jobs.alaska.gov/jobfairs.
Job openings are listed in Alaska’s Labor Exchange system, ALEXsys, at https://jobs.alaska.gov.
More information is available through the Anchorage Seafood Employment Office at 800-473-0688 or 907-269-4746 or via email at dol.seafood@alaska.gov.
The state has issued several health mandates to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and identified critical workforce infrastructure industries, including fish processing.
Final details are still being worked out, but most processors, who offer transportation and room and board benefits for those who complete their contracts, are making special arrangements to quarantine incoming workers for 14-days, plus numerous other precautions to stem the spread of the virus in Alaska.