JVS Chicago

Website Links

Description

Illinois has seen a slight rebound from having the highest unemployment in the country last year to 6th highest this year. Despite the fact that it is the 7th wealthiest state, it also has lagged the most in developing new jobs, few of them suitable for the middle class unemployed. Global outsourcing continues to plague the manufacturing industry displacing accountants, attorneys and marketing professionals associated with that industry.Employment Services are serving increased numbers of retired workers resenting having to go back to work to supplement their income and faced with an even greater barrier of competing with entry-level job seekers for part-time jobs without benefits. The phenomenon of more part-time jobs on the market replacing full-time positions continues, but these usually demand technical skills and experience that most of these retired job seekers lack. Our counseling staff continues to lose personal contact with employers as jobs are increasingly being screened through the Internet. Networking still remains key to upper-level employment. Health insurance continues to be a prominent concern of job seekers as benefits decrease, but there are indications that job seekers are gradually finding positions more quickly than previously and more are reporting salaries near or equal to their previous earnings. There is a rapidly growing interest in small business start-ups as the job market continues to churn. The SBA reports 21% more small business loans this year compared to a 47% increase over the past two years. Our agency is seeing greater diversity in immigrant services and learning computer skills continues to be a deal breaker in the job market. There is also concrete interest within the Chicago public schools for the agency to provide ESL to immigrant parents of their students, the majority being Hispanic. There is greater collaboration among youth providers but more difficulty in finding work for youth with barriers to employment. Older workers still battle age discrimination and are pressured by the need for higher salaries than the market will bear especially with their mostly limited or obsolete job skills. Our professionals are interviewing fewer scholarship seekers who are interested in pursuing nonprofit professional services as their career goal.Rehabilitation and Training Services are observing the downsizing in state psychiatric beds and fewer safe and affordable apartments in the community, giving rise to people living off the streets. Our work center production contracts are shifting from larger manufacturers who are increasingly outsourcing their products offshore to smaller companies who are not. The state continues to convert from a grant system to fee-for-service, which creates extraordinary demands on our staff to track, report and bill services. More government funding will be only accessible online and reporting is being required through the Internet, but in some departments the paper accountability has increased for audit purposes. Terrorism continues to tighten the character requirements of trainees employed in government agencies, leading to criminal background and substance abuse checks. A breakthrough in working with the state is the renewed recognition of the need to pay for client services leading up to job placement. Jobs for people with disabilities seem to be growing in childcare services, technical service industries such as HVAC and the entertainment field. Public schools are increasingly interested in supported employment for transitioning students to work and businesses that have planned growth are working with the agency to fill the many open positions this creates.

Companies nearby