Return on Investment
Workforce development and regulatory programs are cost effective, including:
- Training graduates earn, on average, 29% higher wages after completing training.
- DOLWD’s Occupational Safety and Health (AKOSH) program conducts more than 400 consultation trainings per year, working in partnership with industry to reduce workplace injuries and fatalities. In the seafood processing industry alone, reductions in injuries from 2013-2014 saved $3.2 million in Workers Compensation costs.
- Comparing AKOSH costs to reduced Workers Compensation obligations, AKOSH has a Return on Investment of approximately 25:1.
- NACTEC vocational training helped increase Nome area high school graduation rates from 32 to 69 percent. High school graduates earn, on average, $10,386 more annually than non-high school graduates. Conversely, high school dropouts cost taxpayers (average lifetime cost) $292,000.
- SAVEC vocational training graduates have a 78% employment rate after graduation compared to a 65.9% employment rate before training.
- Alaska Construction Academy graduates have maintained higher rates of employment (71.8% after compared to 57.6% before) and earned significantly higher median wages (as much as $10,000 more per year) compared to their employment and wage rates before entering the Construction Academy. ACA has a focus on employing veterans through the Helmets to Hardhats program.