JobsStat

Many Illinois manufacturing jobs will soon be lost.

ArcelorMittal recently announced its plan to close, cutting about 285 jobs in the process. According to an article by the Chicago Tribune, the Luxembourg-based company says the plant duplicates work done at other plants.

The plant slated to close is located in Hennepin, Ill., about 50 miles northwest of Bloomington. It is unknown when exactly the plant will close, and the company is working on providing severance pay to the workers who will lose their jobs.

During October 2008, the State of Illinois‘ manufacturing industry employed a total of 668,200 workers, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from the 668,600 workers employed in the industry during September, and a .3 percent decrease from last year.

Employment in Illinois’ manufacturing industry is expected to decline through 2014, according to an article by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Manufacturing layoffs in aging industries are expected to be partially offset by job gains in those industries in which Illinois has a competitive advantage.

“Many job openings in the production occupations will be due to replacement of retiring workers,” the article notes. “Implementation of labor saving machinery such as computer-controlled machine tools and robots has reduced employment levels during the past several decades.

“Employment opportunities will be favorable for machinists and welders,” the article continues. “A significant number of job openings are also expected for cutting, punching, and press machine operators and molding/casting machine operators.”

While other companies have been cutting manufacturing jobs throughout the state, some state leaders have been making an effort to help the industry. Most recently, House Republicans proposed a state capital plan that would support small businesses and create high-paying jobs.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 15th, 2008 at 7:19 am and is filed under Job Search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.