Job cuts may not be in store for Alberta's public service workers after all, according to Premier Ed Stelmach.

Premier Ed Stelmach speaks to reporters at the Alberta Legislature Tuesday in Edmonton. (CBC) On Tuesday, the Alberta premier backed away from his comments last week, when he mused about resorting to strategies that the province used in the early 1990s to deal with lower revenues caused by the current drop in oil prices.

In the early '90s, thousands of public-sector jobs were cut and wages were rolled back to help the province reduce debt, but Stelmach said that's not what he was talking about last week.

"I never used the word cuts," he said.

"We'll look at every available way ... any place that we can reduce some of our spending: Are there programs or things we're doing today as government that we can save a few million dollars? Maybe there's things we can delay in terms of expenditures."

Alberta's bottom line has been hit hard in the last four months, but Stelmach said the province can weather the drop in income by dipping into its savings accounts.

"My motive here, my principle, is to keep Albertans working and ... we have $7.7 billion set aside," he said.

The government will also continue to invest in public infrastructure projects, Stelmach said. He also promised to protect the "most vulnerable" by focusing on programs and services people need.

"We're not immune from world events, but as Albertans, we can be confident about the future," he said.

Heather Smith, president of the United Nurses of Alberta, said she was encouraged by Stelmach's remarks.

"The premier is responding and saying, 'We're not trying to dump onto you, we recognize that in economic times we've got resources as a province and we're prepared to share responsibility in terms of going forward,'" she said.

Treasury Board president Lloyd Snelgrove also spoke last week about his desire to discuss potential concessions with Alberta's public-sector unions.

When asked about those comments, Stelmach only repeated he wanted to "keep Albertans working."