Low Unemployment Hurts Quality Of Illinois Job-Seekers

Illinois manufacturers say that the tight labor market results in lower-quality job applicants and hurts their ability to recruit workers. These are just two of the results of a recent survey released by the Illinois Manufacturers Assn. (IMA) and conducted among its members in mid-May. Over half of the survey respondents (52%) rated the overall quality of job seekers applying at the skilled-factory-worker level as "poor" or "very poor," up from 49% six months ago when the survey was last conducted. "The ability of Illinois manufacturers to remain competitive in todays marketplace is directly linked to their ability to recruit and retain quality workers at every level of their operations," says IMA President and CEO Gregory W. Baise. "It is noteworthy that only 17% of survey respondents rated their ability to recruit skilled factory workers as being good or excellent."