Industry looking to hire 3,100 seafood processing workers

Local processors send their fastest, most efficient filleters to demonstrate filleting techniques during the Small Fry family activities at Copper River Salmon Jam. Fish printing (or gyotaku), salmon preserving and curing demonstrations, and other activities are also offered during the family-focused event. Photo Courtesy Copper River Wild! Salmon Jam/For The Cordova Times

Seafood processors bracing for the 2020 commercial salmon season in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic are working with the Alaska Department of Labor to screen and pass on contact information on potentially eligible employees.

Labor department spokesperson Sal Solis said the agency is screening applicants by telephone and passing on information about those eligible for specific jobs with processors directly to the processors in order to speed hiring. While a number of applicants do have experience, nobody is being eliminated for lack of skills, so long as they are willing to work under defined conditions, Solis said.

The agency is also contacting people in villages where the processors work to see if residents there are interested, Solis said.

Job openings are posted in the state agency’s Labor Exchange system (ALEXsys) at jobs.alaska.gov, including higher-paying skilled and technical positions.

The agency has also posted a 20-minute seafood processing orientation video online at jobs.alaska.gov/seafood/processing.html to inform applicants of what to expect.

Current seafood processing recruitment fliers with self-referral instructions are posted online at jobs.alaska.gov/jobfairs.

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