Recession ? with jobs, 50k+, no takers, no adventure

I work for the State of Alaska, at one time people stood in large lines to work here, not anymore.
http://local71.com/ERP/job_listings.htm
5 weeks paid vacation to start
37.5 hours per week
steady work
medical insurance
The last few weeks this list has only grown.
driver / operators, mechainics, buildings maintenance, corrections
jobs go to Alaskans, have a skill, show up with an AK drivers licence, demonstrate some skill, get a job, some even in town.
I think the union gets 25 dollars to put you on the list.

There are quite a few "Jobs" all over the lower 48 as well, the catch is there is actually work involved & a bit of self sacrifice with possibly having to move or such. That's another thing I didn't like about extending unemployment comp. it may have kept some off of welfare but for most just created a different path for the same thing, if their spouse or partner had income coming in why take a job that's honest "work" when they could get the same or better in most cases for sitting around doing nothing but *itching.

If they show preferential treatment to Alaskans, and you need an AK license, etc, they are at least limiting their pool of new employees.

How do you criticize a person who doesn't dash off for the last frontier on the off chance he MIGHT get a job if no one else shows up?

And 50K isn't near enough for me to go to AK. Double it and we'll talk.

Can a person live in Alaska for $40K a year? What I'm asking is.... is someone took a job there, could they bank ten grand a year? I think most people look at Alaska as a way to get ahead down here. If they can go, spend 5 years, and come home with 50 thou in their pocket, it might be worth it, but, to go spend 5 years and only have enough for a bus ticket back.... not so appealing.

And that's the problem today. Please don't any one person get thier feelings hurt--I suspect I have to say that??? We have become a society of greed, laziness, & it seems people have forgotten the concept of starting at the bottom & showing your WORTH on the journey towards the top. Our highway Super makes $40,000.00 with a family--he gets medical which he is up to having to pay 20% like most of the Country---his wife works at the local school making probably $15,000.00 per. They & the bank own thier home, 2 nice vehicles, 3 kids that don't NEED for anything-- I don't get it--have we all become such legends in our own minds that actual work & in this case risk--so many whine about the current political situation but are right up there in the front of the line when hand-outs are being doled out--yep, I don't get it. If I were 30 yrs younger with a new family trying to make it, & wanted to keep my pride & independence, I would be up there in a heart beat--Freddy, living within one's means is a dieing art--yes, I've been to Alaska when the pipeline started--yes, I came home with quite a booty of cash--many didn't--thier choice

Maybe that risk/reward works for you. Did you have a family when you were up their previously? It changes the math considerably.

I suspect that getting off the bus in Alaska, with at least two strikes against you in that you are not an AK citizen, nor do you have a DL for $50k/yr isn't an appealing situation for many.

If I was single and just starting out, maybe I'd be interested but the cost of living in AK is far higher than the lower 48 and $50k with a family is going to be meager.

I agree there are plenty of opportunities down here that would pay off more in the long run.

EDIT: After looking more closely at that list, except for food service, none of those jobs are what I would call "entry level" and someone with enough experience to do them is probably making at least that much down here so unless you are out of a job,there's no draw to get people there.

And then there is the matter of state license to do some of those jobs. Does one need a heavy equipment operators license in AK? How long would it take to get?

And you have to have applied to be a member of the union too. How long does that process take?

After the steel mills shut down in the 80s there was no work up North so I went to Miami, for an entry level shipping job, started out on it & within a year I was second in command. Only reason I left to come back North & raise my kids after the wife divorced me after emptying the bank accounts the kids would have been eaten alive at 9 & 10 if I moved them down there. Years before that during a lay-off I worked on the New River Gorge Bridge for about a month or so, never so happy to be called back to work but I did what I had to do, lived in a camper & sent money home.

Exactly Sam--damn, whatever happened to absence makes the heart grow fonder? I can only answer one of those questions honestly--yes I was married w/ our first kid & paying a mortgage on a house. The rest would have to be made on an lndividual basis for anybody interested. I guess the real point I was trying to make is that so many people today think they are above menial & would rather suk off the govt teet that we all pay for.

Ill be in Fairbanks for a week early October -- I know too cold already but its the first I can get away

Think I should stay --do they hire "old Guys"

I like movies where old guys save the day -- grinned my ears off watching the new movie "Battleship" this week
- note to the director - you don't start 8 cold boilers in 15 minutes - but the movie was still fun to watch

good posts freetown fred sounds like u and i are from the same mold....

I guess what I want to say is surely there are a couple of people on this forum supporting somone that could take advantage of a change of location and find this an opportunity.

I came up here in 7/07 this trip and picked up a job late in the summer to pick up some paychecks before I headed back to Washington state. I had to change my drivers license to Alaska for about 120$ to get these checks, I like paychecks, I also had two drug tests. I was talked into going to the hall and giving them about 20$, went to job interview, was hired that day and instead of going south the next week I went to a new job. After the job interview I went to home depo to buy insulation for my dad's summer cabin. Yes I had skills, mechanic, yes I had access to a cabin, saved on rent, I used my 350,000 mile 2wd pickup for 20 months. It's been great for me, surly somone knows someone that would find this an opportunity.

but the movie was still fun to watch

Ccrraasshh, you fell off the illuminati pedestal that knows all. I watched the movie and I am furious that I can never get that 2 hours of my life back but I managed to cut my toenails so it wasn't a total waste of time.

$50k in MA is ok - you can get by pretty good if your SMART with your money. $50k in CA is close to poverty level. You'll barely afford rent on that, let alone the $5/gallon gas ... of which .49 cents-per-gallon is state gas tax (ahhh ... the libs at work! Power to the sheeple!). $50k in AK isn't even worth getting out of bed for. I was in Anchorage in '87 - gas was almost $3 THEN, a Whopper at BK was nearly $5 .. so you can only imagine what everything else costs up there. The tax refund is nice, thanks to what oil the treehuggers let AK drill for - and you can bet they cry for every drop extracted. Ice Road Truckers would have never been had it not been for that vast reserve up in Prudhoe Bay. If not for oil, nobody would live there - it just wouldn't be worth it to anyone else besides the natives.

I don't think short bus is talkin about somebody wantin to get rich & run back to the lower 48 or 50 or whatever we're up to now , but someone that will make the move family & all if they have one to become an Alaskan. It is one of the prettiest places left on this planet & yes, it takes a special kind of person, the likes which I respect & understand. Hell SMITTY, if it weren't for your wifes family, you'd think you'd died & went to heaven up there.

coalnewbie wrote:

but the movie was still fun to watch

Ccrraasshh, you fell off the illuminati pedestal that knows all. I watched the movie and I am furious that I can never get that 2 hours of my life back but I managed to cut my toenails so it wasn't a total waste of time.

LOL And here I thought I was kicked off that loft when I turned the NG boiler back on!

Well I just go back to mumbling like I was addressing a large political gathering