FAIRBANKS -- Decades after construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, state lawmakers are again hearing from Alaskans concerned about the number of out-of-state hires in good-paying jobs on the North Slope.

Several speakers told the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee that the Legislature should focus more on boosting oil production and decreasing the state's cost of living in its effort to put more Alaskans to work, according to a story in Wednesday's Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

"We all know that if we increased production, we would not have to worry about Alaska hire," said Frontier Supply's Karl Gohlke at Tuesday's hearing at the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly chambers.

Another hearing is scheduled for this afternoon and evening in Anchorage at the Legislative office building downtown.

Sen. Dennis Egan, D-Juneau, said he had studied the out-of-state hire issue and it was an "unsettling observation" that more non-Alaskans were hired for new oil industry jobs than residents in 2010, based on Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development figures. But Kara Moriarty, the deputy director for the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, said the number of out-of-state workers in the oil and gas industry has been consistent for the past decade. She based her conclusion on the last set of complete figures in 2009.

Alaska Department of Labor tallies since 2001 show 26 to 31 percent of workers in the industry have been from out of state each year, she said.

But Tim Sharp, business manager for Laborers Local 942, said it's clear to anyone who works in Prudhoe Bay that out-of-state hire is on the rise.

The hiring issue is tricky for employers, said Ken Hall with Lynden Transport. The high cost of living in Alaska -- along with a schedule that alternates two weeks on, two weeks off -- persuades many Alaska residents to relocate to other states once they've been hired, Hall said.

Doyon Ltd. Vice President Jim Johnsen said the Fairbanks-based regional Native corporation also has had trouble maintaining its in-state workers, despite a hiring preference for shareholders and Alaskans.