Illinois losing middle-class jobs as businesses, labor groups remain divided on solutions

A state task force released a report on the "future of work" on Tuesday morning. It calls on government, businesses and labor interests to unite behind a desire to increase the number of "quality jobs" in the state.

Despite the call for collaboration, the task force itself failed to unify on its recommendations, with business groups and the state board of education breaking with the task force and voting against approving the report.

The 36-member task force, made up of politicians, representatives of unions and special interest groups and researchers met regularly for nine months to discuss the contents of the report, and the issues facing the state, before publishing it.

The final report contains 58 policy recommendations and several research findings about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labor market and businesses, long-term shifts in the Illinois economy and innovations in technology as well as policy.

"Illinois has the opportunity to be a national leader in aligning business and worker needs through defining and enhancing job quality," reads the report.

More local: Longtime member of Sangamon County Board resigns to focus on real estate business

It centers on the concept of quality jobs, which the report defines as a job that provides "a family-sustaining wage and benefits package," including health care and sick leave. Quality jobs, as defined in the report, must also have predictable work schedules and opportunities for advancement.

In Illinois, jobs are becoming increasingly polarized with a "hollowing out" of middle-wage jobs around the state. This has largely been driven by shifts away from manufacturing, according to the report.

This problem will likely be compounded in the coming years, with projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggesting that middle-wage jobs such as administrative and production jobs continuing to decrease as low-wage jobs and high-wage jobs increase.

In addition to the ongoing losses of middle-wage jobs, the report identified an uneven recovery from the pandemic. In the first quarter of 2022, the state had a 4.8% unemployment rate overall, according to an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute. The unemployment rate for people of color is significantly higher.

In the same time period, the unemployment rate for Black people was 12.2%, with Hispanic people seeing a 5.3% unemployment rate.

The task force recommended several things to address these and other issues, including adopting a statewide job quality measurement and increasing workers' collective bargaining abilities with regard to digital technology. It also lays out plans to put state money into improving specific industries, including care work, clean energy, transportation, agriculture and gig work.

Proponents of the report and its findings say this is an important step to addressing the problems facing Illinois' economy.

"I am proud to have worked alongside experts from growing industries, labor and government to produce a comprehensive plan to build a people-centered economy for our state," said Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago. Villivalam is a co-chair of the task force.

More local: UIS union faculty overwhelmingly vote to ratify 4-year labor contract

Other members of the task force said the recommendations in the report represent a step forward to aligning the state's economy to the needs of Illinoisans.

"This is not just a document. It's not just a report. It's a call to action." said Delmar Gillus, the chief operating officer of Elevate Energy, a nonprofit that works to provide affordable heat, power and water.

The report was approved last week at a meeting of the task force. Seventeen members of the task force voted to approve the report.

This report is designed to be an agenda-setting tool for lawmakers, with its recommendations serving as the launch point for new policy.

"We look forward to partnering with the General Assembly as we develop the details of these policy recommendations and look towards implementation that works for people and business in our great state of Illinois," said DCEO Director Sylvia Garcia.

The recommendations in the report have some in the business community worried.

"How all this went down was not exactly appropriate," said Brad Tietz, vice president of government relations with the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.

Tietz, who joined the task force in December, was among the groups who voted against approving the final report. He cited problems he had with some specific policy issues, such as issues with paid leave and modifications incentives for data centers.

You may like: Nominate your favorite businesses for the 2022 readers’ choice awards

But Tietz also pointed out problems he had with the process of putting together these recommendations.

"Maybe 50 of the recommendations were never discussed with the task force," said Tietz.

The Chicagoland Chamber, along with the Illinois Manufacturers' Association and Illinois Retail Merchant Association, put out a joint statement on Tuesday criticizing the task force's "deeply flawed process." They pointed to the fact that the task forced failed to appoint members by the statutory deadline, held meetings before some members were appointed and failed to appropriately provide public notice for meetings, among other issues.

"This is an important conversation we wanted to have," said Tietz. The Chicagoland Chamber, and several other business groups, were supportive of the bill that formed the task force when it passed in July of last year.

Tietz added that he and others in the business community will "keep pushing" for business interests as the recommendations start to inform real policy.

Others in the business community expressed similar concerns, as well as a similar desire to continue the conversation.

Clark Kaericher is the senior vice president for government affairs for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and is also on the task force. He voted against approving the final report.

"Policy disagreements should not stop us from searching for consensus," Kaericher said at an event Tuesday in Chicago.

Contact Andrew Adams: aadams1@gannett.com; (312)-291-1417; twitter.com/drewjayadams.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Report finds Illinois losing quality middle-class jobs, here's why