10/31/2012
For Immediate Release | Greg Rivara, Phone: (312) 814-0095 (pdf version)
Illinoisjoblink.com Part of Adding 4,000 Jobs since Sept. 2010
ROCKFORD - Illinois Department of Employment Security Director Jay Rowell stood with UPS and other business leaders Wednesday to show how the Department can fill seasonal and permanent hiring needs.
The no-cost, HR-recruitment effort connects qualified workers with ready-to-hire employers through illinoisjoblink.com. Additionally, the IDES' Business Services team assists businesses placing job orders, arranging for interviews and ensuring that all possible tax incentives are explored before a job offer is made.
"We are the state's employment office. We help businesses find the right workers. We identify possible tax incentives. We do so because a business that is growing and is hiring is good for our economy," Rowell said. "Illinoisjoblink.com and our no-cost HR-recruiting effort is the most direct path to re-employment in any of the estimated 12,000 help-wanted ads in the Rockford area."
Job opportunities include nursing, engineering, store management, assembler, warehouse worker, payroll analyst, cook and truck driver. Some positions include annual wages of more than $40,000.
Rowell stood inside UPS' Rockford Regional Air Hub that has the capacity to sort 121,000 packages each hour. The facility averages 30 flights each day and serves 15 states, including New York, California and Texas. Several area business leaders joined Rowell and UPS Director of Human Resources, Illinois District, John Coliton, including June Hazzard from Woodward and Eva Macias from Kelly Services.
Illinoisjoblink.com is the revamped IDES employment website that links job seekers with ready-to-hire employers. This no-cost, on-line career resource allows individuals to create multiple resumes that emphasize different talents and allows businesses to search for specific skills. The keyword matching technology increases the likelihood of a successful new hire. Illinois JobLink emphasizes Illinois jobs, scrapes other commercial job boards, and compares favorably to private efforts that cost hundreds of dollars for a single advertisement.
Illinois added +157,200 private sector jobs since January 2010 when job growth returned to Illinois following nearly two years of consecutive monthly declines. Leading growth sectors are Professional and Business Services (+83,100); Manufacturing (+41,200); and Educational and Health Services (+38,400). Government has lost the most jobs since January 2010, down -27,300. The data is seasonally adjusted. The Rockford area has added more than 4,000 jobs since September 2010, according to not seasonally adjusted data.
