Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon
As Alaska’s population of working-age adults shrinks, according to economists, other demographic groups have become bigger segments of the labor force: seniors and teenagers.
Residents who are 65 and older made up 6.2% of the Alaska worker population in 2023 after steadily increasing over two decades, according to an analysis by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. In 2003, that age group made up just 1.8% of all working Alaskans, according to the data.
For teenagers, the two-decade trend has been different. In 2003, teenagers 14 to 17 years old made up 4.4% of Alaska’s resident workers, but that percentage dropped in subsequent years – reflecting national trends — until it bottomed out at 2.7% during the COVID-19 pandemic year of 2020. Since then, the percentage of teens in Alaska’s workforce rebounded, and it hit 3.7% in 2023.
The information is detailed in a pair of articles in the current issue of Alaska Economic Trends, the department’s monthly magazine published by the department’s research section.
The analysis of senior workers was written by state labor economist Karinne Wiebold; labor economist Rob Kreiger reported on the labor trends among teenagers.
A big difference between older and younger workers is the degree of the male-female pay gap, Wiebold’s analysis showed.
For workers 65 and older, the gap is wide. Men in that age group had average annual earnings of $54,835, compared to average earnings of$38,797 for women 65 and older.
In dollar terms, older women in Alaska earned 71 cents for every $1 earned by men 65 and older.
The gap widens with age, the analysis found. The gap existed even in the highest-paid job category, the analysis found. Top male executives who were at least 65 years old earned $112,799 a year on average in 2024, while top female executives in the same age group earned an average of $87,514.
Statewide, across all age groups, women earn 73 cents for every $1 earned by men, her article said.
Wiebold said numerous factors contribute to the wage gap and the way it widens with age. Those might include historic discrimination, but other factors are work experience, training, education, hours worked, job and industry choice and time out of the workforce for reasons like childcare and elder care, she said.
“All of these choices and conditions are amplified with age,” she said by email.
In contrast, the male-female pay gap among teens aged 14 to 17 was very small, Kreiger’s analysis showed. On average, girls in that age group earned 96 cents for every $1 earned by boys in 2023, the statistics showed.
For the most part, teenaged boys and girls worked in similar jobs. Accommodation and food-service jobs accounted for more than a third of employment, while retail jobs accounted for 18.4%.
By working mostly in similar industries and at similarly entry-level positions, the teens “haven’t had time for other factors to influence the wage gap,” Weibold said.
Demographic shift
Alaska’s loss since 2013 of residents of prime working ages, considered to be 18 to 64, has been well-documented.
There are multiple and interplaying causes, said Dan Robinson, research chief for the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Part of the reason is net outmigration – with more people moving away from Alaska than moving to the state. Another factor is the aging of Alaska’s population, he said.
There are also numerous responses to the loss of Alaskans of prime working age residents. One has been more employment of nonresident workers, he said.
Nonresident hire hit a new record in 2023, the department said earlier this year.
Increased workforce participation by teens and seniors is part of the multifaceted picture, he said.
“For teens, it’s because a higher percentage of them have been working since the pandemic, and for seniors there are simply more of them,” Robinson said by email. “It could be that seniors are postponing retirement as a result of the worker shortage, and for teens they are likely lured into the labor force by recent wage growth in low wage jobs,”
State officials and employers have also taken actions to entice more seniors and teens into the workforce.
Last month, the state marked an official “Employ Older Workers Week,” with a Sept. 21 gubernatorial proclamation noting that “older workers play an increasingly important role in maintaining Alaska’s economy and leadership in the global marketplace, adding depth in perspective, social networks, and talent.”
The proclamation mentioned the Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Mature Alaskans Seeking Skills Training program, which trains people 55 and older who might have encountered barriers to employment in the past, such as disabilities.
As for the young Alaskans, the Legislature this spring passed a bill allowing workers as young as 18 to serve alcohol at restaurants. Key support for the bill came from the Alaska Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant, and Retailers Association, which cited a labor shortage as one of the significant challenges facing its members.
However, that labor shortage might not continue.
“There are early signs that the labor shortage is easing and we’re returning to a more normal balance between job openings and job seekers, but we’re still gathering and thinking about that data,” Robinson said.
