Driving Workforce Development Strategy through a Port Landscape Analysis
How can ports learn from each other to design workforce strategies that meet local needs?
Client: Port of Seattle
Services: Landscape Analysis
Focus Areas: Workforce Development
Ports Are Evolving, Workforce Strategies Must Too
Ports and port-related industries are competing for talent, upskilling workers on new technologies, and ensuring the workforce is ready to deliver long-term infrastructure investments—all in the midst of a shifting federal landscape and tightening fiscal contexts.
Across the country, ports are responding in different ways: some are raising career awareness, others are aligning education pathways, expanding outreach to diverse and port-impacted communities, or creating state-of-the-art training facilities.
For the Port of Seattle, workforce development is a Commission priority and central to many Port–community partnerships. But the team was being asked to do more, experiencing change with new staff, and needed to make intentional choices about where to focus. To deliver the greatest impact—especially for workers furthest from opportunity—the Port needed a clear understanding of how industry-leading ports structure their workforce strategies.
From 90 Programs to a Clear Framework
Kinetic West supported the Port of Seattle through a three-phase landscape analysis:
Desk Research to identify key workforce development trends in port-related industries
Interviews with regional collaborators to ground findings in local knowledge
Case Studies & Best Practice Conversations with ports across the U.S. and Canada (see image below) operating robust workforce development programs
Across this work, we tracked more than 90 individual programs and initiatives. To make findings actionable, we developed a workforce continuum framework with six phases of workforce development—from early outreach and awareness through retention and advancement. Every program was mapped to this continuum, allowing us to quantify focus areas across ports and highlight gaps or opportunities.
This approach gave the Port tools to:
Capture detailed information that program managers can apply directly
Communicate high-level insights to Port leaders in a clear, visual format
Turning Findings into Leadership Buy-In
To maximize impact, findings needed to resonate with both the Port of Seattle Commission and leadership team. The workforce development team used the landscape analysis to frame strategic choices, highlighting the top three drivers shaping workforce development at ports today and showing how peers focus across the continuum.
This framing equipped leadership with a common language for workforce priorities and gave the team a credible foundation for future strategic planning.
Positioning the Port for Long-Term Workforce Success
The Port of Seattle is advancing strategies to ensure its workforce programs:
Meet community needs
Align with industry shifts
Position the Port to compete for talent
The landscape analysis provided both the detail and the big-picture framing to guide intentional decisions in the years ahead.
Tackling a workforce challenge of your own?
Together, let’s explore how a clear framework and actionable insights can help you compete for talent, strengthen community partnerships, and build long-term workforce resilience. Connect with us to start shaping the future of your workforce strategy.
Contact: merilee.teylan@kineticwest.com to learn more.