Critical Skill Shortages Initiative (CSSI)

As part of a statewide undertaking to strengthen Illinois' system of workforce and economic development, the Governor's Office and the Department of Economic Opportunity implemented the Critical Skill Shortages Initiative. The Critical Skill Shortages Initiative is designed to align regional workforce strategies with economic development to provide qualified workers for critical skill shortage occupations, and will include:

• Identification of skill shortage occupations that provide good wages and benefits in key sectors;
• Examination of both root causes and on-the-job factors that lead to shortages;
• Redirection of existing resources and implementation of strategies to address these issues.

In the metropolitan Chicago area, the Workforce Boards of Metropolitan Chicago are responsible for management of this initiative. As a result of a $3 million planning grant and with the assistance of stakeholders and employers throughout the region, the following three sectors were researched and analyzed for the purpose of identifying critical skill shortage needs: healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation, warehousing, and logistics.

In the second phase of CSSI, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity awarded grants to the Workforce Boards to support demonstration projects addressing root causes and implementing solutions that address critical skill shortages in each of the targeted sectors. The following reports summarize research results of the planning phase as well as projects funded in the second phase.

Healthcare Workforce: Turning Crisis into Opportunity

Manufacturing Workforce: Not Disappearing - Just Changing

Transportation, Warehousing and Logistics Workforce: A Job Market in Motion