McLean County Times

GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey urged for a change in leadership as employment numbers drop from the time Gov. J.B. Pritzker held office.

Over 1,000 jobs have been lost in the Bloomington-Normal area since 2019.

“The Bloomington-Normal area is down 1,079 jobs in the four years J.B. Pritzker has been in office," Bailey said. "J.B. campaigned on job creation and getting the Illinois economy on track and he has failed to deliver on his promises. Make no mistake about it – we are losing jobs because of a failure of leadership and a failure of Gov. Pritzker's policies. We need a new direction in Illinois and that can only come with a change in leadership.”

The most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show declining employment across Illinois from January 2019 to June 2022. Bloomington-Normal's lessened by 1.2% (from 92,184 to 91,105). Kankakee had the largest at 6.4% (from 52,830 to 49,431, a difference of 3,399) and Rockford comes in second with a 6.2% decline in employment numbers (from 158,466 to 148,575, a difference of 9,891). 

Decatur like Rockford, dropped by 6.2% (from 46,492 to 43,628, difference of 2,864), Danville's lowered by 5.3% (from 31,359 to 29,684, difference of 1,675), Peoria's decreased by 4.5% (from 168,268 to 160,778, difference of 7,490), Carbondale-Marion's employment numbers decreased by 2.9% (from 57,715 to 56,052, difference of 1,663), Davenport-Moline-Rock Island's decreased by 2.4% (from 186,409 to 181,871, difference of 4,538), Chicago-Naperville-Elgin's employment dropped by 1.7% (from 4,788,931 to 4,707,375, difference of 81,556) and Springfield had a 1.5% employment drop (from 102,108 to 100,529, difference of 1,579). Champaign-Urbana was the only area in the state that had an increase in employment numbers but with only 0.2% growth (from 118,669 to 118,888, a difference of 219).

Bailey believes hardworking Illinoisans should not be deprived of their livelihoods. He slammed Pritzker for tightening rules governing temporary employees like babysitters and caregivers. 

“The last thing we need in Illinois is more red tape, more rules and more regulations," Bailey said in a report published by Prairie State Wire. "If we want to grow our economy and be a leader for jobs and opportunities in the Midwest, we need to prioritize policies that will create jobs, not jeopardize the ones we have. Pritzker’s priorities are misguided. Silly bureaucratic rules won’t grow our economy. Families are wondering how to afford to gas up their cars and purchase basic household necessities and the focus of the Pritzker administration is making sure people fill out time sheets for their nannies? It is no wonder we are losing jobs and opportunities here in Illinois.” 

Illinoisans are not the only ones leaving the state. Many companies have moved their corporate headquarters outside Illinois. The most well-known manufacturer of airplanes, Boeing, declared that it would depart the area starting in May, NBC 5 Chicago earlier reported. Boeing, which started in Washington, relocated to Chicago in 2001. Over 16,000 jobs were lost as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, or more than 10% of the organization's total workforce.

On June 14, Caterpillar announced that its corporate headquarters would relocate to Irving, Texas, according to Chicago Tribune. Jim Umpleby, chairman and chief executive officer of Caterpillar, said that the choice was taken with the company's "strategic interest" in mind. The 230 workers at the corporate office, according to Caterpillar, wouldn't be affected.

Citadel Securities noted its move to Miami from Chicago was based on insecurity. 

“The firms are having difficulty recruiting top talent from across the world to Chicago given the rising and senseless violence in the city,” Zia Ahmed, a Citadel spokesman, told The New York Times. “Talent wants to live in cities where they feel safe.”