Alaska's construction industry faces growing shortage of workers

A custom homebuilder in Anchorage said it can now take a full year to complete a house, twice as long as they once did, because workers are hard to find amid a labor shortage that’s predicted to get worse.

There aren’t enough framers to erect walls, so concrete foundations can sit untouched for months on end in a “painful waiting game,” Bill Taylor said. Electricians, plumbers, sheetrockers, roofers and others are in high demand, too, so labor costs are higher.

“It’s been going on aggressively since COVID,” said Taylor, who owns Colony Builders with his wife, Tami. “And costs have risen dramat...