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The National Federation of Independent Business Small Business
Employment Index ticked up nearly a point in February.
The survey also found that 33% of small business owners reported
job openings they could not fill.
NFIB Illinois State Director Noah Finley said the labor market
is tightening.
“It's a challenge for employers, for small employers to find
workers, especially skilled workers,” Finley told The Center
Square.
Finley said federal data shows that small business owners are
increasing compensation to their employees.
“We're starting to see that wages are increasing faster than
inflation at present. If this trend continues, that will provide
real relief for working Americans across the country,” Finley
said.
Finley said it is problematic that people in Illinois are
dropping out of the work force.
An Illinois machine shop owner suggested that the “hole” in
manufacturing could get worse when a state mandate takes effect.
Kyra Tillman is president and owner of BTM Industries in McHenry
County.
Tillman said her grandfather started the business in 1963, but
workers have become harder to find as the United States put more
emphasis on college and less on skilled trades in recent decades
“We’ve got baby boomers going out of the industry and retiring,
and there’s just not a lot of workers with skill to take their
place,” Tillman told The Center Square.
A state mandate requiring foreign language instruction in high
school is scheduled to take effect in 2027.
Tillman said the requirement could force students out of
programs focused on the building trades and courses like welding
and machining.
“To think that students now are not going to have a choice to
take those programs any more because of this foreign language
requirement is troubling,” Tillman said.
Tillman said the Manufacturing Pathways Consortium in McHenry
County alerted her to the issue.
Senate Bill 3070, filed by state Sen. Willie Preston, D-Chicago,
would allow high school students to take career technical
education classes instead of a foreign language, starting in
2028.
The measure was assigned to the Illinois Senate Assignments
Committee on Jan. 29.
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