FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ryan Kilpatrick
Carolyn Grisko & Associates
312.335.0100
CHICAGO – Recruitment for the first 150 person pilot class of the innovative Chicago Career Tech initiative is now open, with applications available exclusively online at ChicagoCareerTech.com through March 12. Chicago Career Tech is a new technology training program for unemployed professional and administrative workers who live in Chicago.
Supported by foundations, grants and the business community – and currently operated out of the nonprofit World Business Chicago – Chicago Career Tech provides participants with skill sets and marketability necessary for today’s technology positions.
The program targets middle income, laid-off workers, who make up half of the unemployed population, yet are largely left out of public programs aimed at supporting and retraining dislocated workers. Roughly 30,000 unemployed Chicagoans are part of this population, many of whom held white collar jobs for years, or even decades, but do not have the resources available for training that will make them employable in today’s tech-driven economy.
“By investing in these workers, and partnering with the private sector on training and workforce opportunities, we will make Chicago more attractive to prospective employers, while keeping thousands from joining the ranks of the long-term unemployed,” said Mayor Daley, who envisioned the program upon talking to Chicagoans who fall into this demographic.
Program participants will receive fast-track training from an accredited partner institution, and partake in on-the-job learning, as well as service learning at a nonprofit organization. In return, they will receive a weekly stipend for participation in the six-month, six-day per week program. Participants will also be eligible for a training voucher for their classroom training.
To be eligible, participants must be Chicago residents, have been laid off from their previous place of employment, have had previously earned between $25-75K, are collecting unemployment insurance benefits or have exhausted unemployment benefits, and hold at least a high school diploma.
“Chicago Career Tech is a very exciting opportunity for the City of Chicago, because it provides access to career opportunities to a large number of Chicago residents who need new or different skills to compete in today’s job market,” said Marie Lynch, Executive Director of Chicago Career Tech. “CCT’s public/private sector partnership has the potential to put a great number of Chicagoans back to work, while continuing to strengthen the city’s position as a premier global business location with a strong technology workforce.”
The City will invest in the program over the next three years, with the goal of enrolling 2,100 participants over that time. In addition, the program is pursuing State and Federal grants, as well as private sector funding and support.
The six-month program will begin in late April, with a second, larger class slated to open recruitment at the end of the summer.
