Finance & Business

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.
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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 TERM
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
Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers
Some College
$47.91
0.93%
319

Human Resources
Human Resource Assistant
Associate Degree
$18.59
-9.4%
138

FBS Pathway Progressions