Illinois Needs Workers for Middle-Skill Jobs CARBONDALE, IL (wsiu) - Illinois is developing a deficiency in workers who can fill middle-skill jobs, according to a new report.

The Workforce Alliance projects Illinois will have an additional 1 million middle-skill jobs by 2014. These are jobs that require more education than high school, but not a four-year college degree.

The report says these jobs cover 50 percent of the jobs in Illinois, but only 43 percent of workers have the credentials to fill them.

Andrea Ray, Midwest coordinator for the Workforce Alliance, says the current deficiency Illinois has of workers able to fill middle-skill jobs will grow more acute.

Typical middle-skill jobs are in factories, or as cops, firemen, nurses, truck drivers or tradesmen, and typically pay above the Illinois median of $31,637 (for 2006).

Ray says one solution for increasing the number of middle-skill workers is guaranteeing two years of post-secondary education for those who want it. © Copyright 2009, wsiu