A construction crew works on one of the new buildings on the University of Guam campus on Feb. 11, 2025 in Mangilao.
Photo by David Castro/The Guam Daily Post
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A Guam Department of Labor official said there’s been a lull in the recruitment of foreign H2 workers, and the military has slowed its awarding of buildup related contracts.
Greg Massey, administrator of GDOL’s alien labor and certification division, said in a public hearing held by lawmakers Tuesday at the Guam Congress Building in Hagåtña, “It’s kind of stayed stagnant. We did break 5,000 about six months ago, and for some reason it went down.”
“I’m hearing that the number of H2’s are down partially because the military hasn’t been vetting projects out as quickly as we expected,” he said.
“And then we’re having workforce housing problems, which is also slowing it down…. I’ve got approvals for like 9,000 workers, but we’ve only got about 5,000 on the ground,” Massey said.
To be exact, he said, “Right now we’re at 4,913, which is a little bit lower than we thought it would be.”
He was responding to questions about the Manpower Development Fund or MDF. Sen. Sabrina Salas Matanane also wanted an update on the foreign labor situation.
Massey said “anecdotally” it might rise to 5,500 by the end of the year, “but again, it depends. I mean, we just had that Glass breakwater project, that’s a $500 million project, come out. They may staff up for that real quickly,” he said.
Under the MDF, construction companies are assessed a $2,091 fee for every H2 worker, and at 4,913 workers the total amount collected by the government of Guam would be more than $10.2 million.
The funding is intended for worker training and development programs, 70% is allocated to Guam Community College, while 30% goes to GDOL.
But during testimony on Bill 103-38 to allocate funds from the MDF to pay for about 25 student workers seeking a temporary exemption from the Peace Officers Standards and Training program, Massey and Guam Community College President Mary Okada confirmed that a substantial amount of the money is going toward operational costs.
Okada said, “Based on how the Legislature has appropriated the GCC budget, there is currently over $8 million that is to be used for operations of the college, including apprenticeships.”
Massey said, “All of our local funding was stripped from the general fund, and we’re fully funded by MDF right now, with the exception of $118,000 for the new 2025 fiscal year.”
“So, yeah, everything’s operations right now for MDF,” he added.
According to Massey, the annual H2 workers registration fee was raised several years ago from $1,000 to $2,091, before that, it was $200.
Matanane asked if GDOL would support a new increase in the fee, “Is the climate right?”
“Honestly, it’s quite high. I’m seeing million-dollar checks come across my desk from bigger companies. I don’t think you’d see support from the contractors association and the industry,” Massey said.
He said raising the fee would then raise the cost of construction, including local nonmilitary projects.
“It’s super hard to build a house right now,” Massey said.
He said there’s an exemption in the law specifically for civilian work, and the $2,091 fee would be reduced $1,091.
“So that’s trying to keep the costs lower for our local projects,” Massey said.
