This project, funded by the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC), supported PSRC’s regional workforce recovery planning activities. It provided actionable regional labor market information to a broad array of stakeholders on in-demand industries and occupations and available regional training programs.
The central Puget Sound region over the past decade experienced a period of sustained economic growth. Despite this promise, the impacts of COVID-19 underscored that growth and opportunity for all Puget Sound residents has not been equally available. To support an equitable recovery, MEF, with its subcontractor Forland Wheeler Consulting, created customized regional occupational projections to identify high demand industries. The project resulted in new regional occupational projections and an understanding of regional workforce needs. MEF developed data products and outreach strategies that can help connect workers and job seekers in the central Puget Sound region to employment and training programs aligned with higher-wage, in-demand occupations.