Finance & Business

Sector Analysis

FBS Sector Overview

Key takeaways from the landscape analysis for the finance and business sector in the Chicagoland area:

A massive industry with a large variety of occupations and workplace requirements and experiences; overlaps with other industries with large administrative infrastructures, such as Health Science and Education.
Some high earners have low levels of formal education and vast years of experience. Most middle-skills roles, however, increasingly require formal education in core business courses, necessitating a concurrent progression through college-level math, English, and communications courses. Exceptions exist but are limited to entrepreneurs, sales, or first-line supervisor roles. The pandemic has caused a large re-alignment of workers.

Overview of Private Training Landscape

Based on Based on WIOA Programs and Chicagoland CareerPathways, the private training landscape is bifurcated:

Upskilling: Currently employed or recently unemployed workers with college degrees or years of experience looking for credentials through a bootcamp format. Certifications center on project management or company/brand specific platforms, e.g. AWS, Google, Salesforce, etc.
Entry-Level Training: Focus on soft skills, office platform basics, and basic computing capacity. Typically leads to certifications with common business platforms like Microsoft Office, Quickbooks/Intuit.

Recommended Improvement Strategies for FBS

Based on the landscape analysis, the EdSystems team proposes the following strategies to both prepare residents for living wage roles in the finance and business sector and meet labor market demands:

Ensure entry-level occupations aren’t “stopping out” at these roles. Build the capacity of partner nonprofits to provide alumni supports to help individuals transition from Gateway Occupations to High Priority Occupations. Pilot alumni supports through philanthropy, but ultimately integrate into WIOA structures. Integrate the Illinois Recommended Technical and Essential Employability Competencies into private training providers or community college coursework. Establish prior learning articulation based on work experience or credentials and certifications (e.g. project management, Google Career Certificates, etc.).
Implement a version of ICCB’s Entrepreneurial Contextualized Bridge Curriculum to support bridge students and adult education.

FBS Priority Occupation and Promising Credential Areas

MIDDLE-SKILL CREDENTIAL AREA	OCCUPATIONS	TYPICAL ENTRY EDUCATION	CHICAGOLAND WAGE $/HR	CHICAGOLAND PROJECTED GROWTH (10 YR.)	ANNUAL CHICAGOLAND JOB OPENINGS
Business	Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants	Some College	$29.69	-23.9%	1,139
	First-Line Supervisor of Office and Administrative Support Workers	Some College	$30.08	-6.1%	1,885
	Administrative Service Managers	Bachelor’s Degree	$49.08	3.0%	709
	Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers	Some College	$28.60	1.6%	627
Accounting	Loan Interviews and Clerks	Some College	$22.62	-4.1%	321
	Payroll and Timekeeping Clerk	Some College	$23.49	-8.7%	190
	Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks	Some College	$22.67	-7.4%	2,667
Supply Logistics	Bill and Posting Clerks	Some College	$22.45	3.3%	845
Supply Logistics	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers	Some College	$47.91	0.93%	319
Human Resources	Human Resource Assistant	Associate Degree	$18.59	-9.4%	138