Why are ports good places for people to find jobs?

Answer 1

Where should I start????

Load and unload ships, trucks, trains, and planes or in the case of ports at the mouth of rivers (New Orleans, Rotterdam), transfer cargo between river barges and seagoing ships.

Builds and repair ships and port facilities.

Do the paper work and number crunching (banks, accountants, lawyers, insurance.

Restaurants and bars.

I could go on forever but you should mention one change that hurts. In the last fifty years we have migrated from what was called break bulk cargo (individual crates) to container ships. These do not require stevedores (fancy cranes load and unload containers directed by software). Due to needing vast parking lots for containers, ports are now far outside cities. Turnaround is so fast that crews do not go ashore much. Forget the bars etc ---