Overview

Engaging employers is a key part of the WDC’s mission

Business Services:
WorkSource Seattle-King County connects employers with hiring solutions and provides a wide range of information and resources.

Sector Initiatives:

  • New! Map Your Career updated for 2010! Explore the fields of health care, manufacturing, construction, biotech/life sciences and information technology with these diagrams showing occupations, wages and training required. Map Your Career

The WDC plays a critical role in convening industry, education and labor leaders around industry workforce issues and finding solutions that meet business needs and get people jobs.

We have particular expertise in bringing together sector panels--industry-driven groups of leaders who come together to focus on workforce issues in one particular industry. Members represent major employers, industry groups, education, labor unions, economic development, service organizations and others.

Our focus sectors are:

  1. Health Care
  2. Manufacturing, including Aerospace
  3. Construction, including Green Building
  4. Automotive

Sectors in which we play a partnering role:

  1. Biotechnology/Life Sciences
  2. Information Technology, including Interactive Media
  3. Maritime
  4. Clean Technology
  5. Trade & Logistics
  6. Hospitality & Leisure


How Did We Choose These Sectors?
The WDC annually reviews the industry sectors in King County to determine which we should choose for our workforce development efforts, and what those strategies should be.
WDC staff use a set of ten criteria to research, collect data and prioritize local industries.

The four essential measures are:

  1. Commitment of employers and/or labor to develop the workforce and contribute resources.
  2. Workforce is critical issue to industry.
  3. Industry is important to the economic development of Seattle-King County.
  4. The WDC has the ability and a leverage point to address industry workforce issues.

Staff also consider these factors:

  1. Existence of an industry intermediary/association.
  2. Degree of demand for workers through employment growth or attrition.
  3. Nature of the demand for workers, is it time-limited, immediate, intermediate (2 - 4 years out), or is it a future demand for workers?
  4. Does the industry provide wage progression and career ladder opportunities that can lead toward self-sufficiency?
  5. Are there parallel efforts underway that the WDC can leverage or partner with?
  6. Level of participation of training and education institutions.