Connecting Untapped Talent to Green Economy Jobs?
The Voorhees Center’s newest report identifies brownfield sites within Cook County and the Calumet Region, assessing their suitability for hosting green economy firms.
Many employers report difficulties finding workers to fill roles with technical requirements, while at the same time large groups of individuals are not able to find employment. These individuals represent “untapped talent” – that is, people who are able and available to work but are not able to secure gainful employment due to various factors and barriers.
The Voorhees Center report, Untapped Talent in the Chicago Region & Green Economy Opportunities, explores the issue by:
Examining Untapped Talent
The report maps out the geographic concentration of untapped talent using an Untapped Talent Index. The highest concentration of untapped talent is on the South and West Sides of the City of Chicago, as well as in south suburban Cook County and Northwest Indiana. Urban locations with the highest concentration of untapped talent follow similar spatial patterns as the distribution of residents of color.
The report also assesses the seven untapped talent groups separately: people experiencing poverty; disconnected youth; immigrants; people with disabilities; caretakers; formerly incarcerated individuals; and veterans. It explores the overall counts of individuals in these groups who are not employed, their spatial distribution, as well as the history and context of these untapped talent groups.
Understanding the Green Economy
Using data from past reports, the report defines the Green Economy, maps locations of Green Economy jobs, and examines occupations and skills required for these jobs.
Identifying Challenges in Connecting Jobs to Talent
The report finds spatial mismatch between the locations of untapped talent and Green Economy jobs that inhibit access to jobs. While the largest numbers of Green Economy jobs are concentrated in inner ring suburbs, near downtown Chicago, and in the near West Sides of Chicago, untapped talent is concentrated in Chicago’s South and West Sides, as well as in more distant suburbs.
The report also examines other barriers to employment, including skills gaps, hiring practices and lack of social connections.
Strategies to Create Connections include:
- Locating firms near areas of untapped talent concentration.
- Improving transportation access.
- Providing skills training to prepare untapped talent groups for Green Economy jobs.
- Addressing other barriers to mitigate adverse impact on access to quality employment.
Untapped Talent Dashboard
The report is accompanied by a dashboard that displays information on untapped talent and Green Economy firms by geography (i.e. Chicago community areas and suburban municipalities). The dashboard allows users to search for the counts and concentration of individuals belonging to specific untapped talent group by geography, as well as the general concentration of untapped talent by geography. The dashboard also displays Green Economy firms by geography and identifies barriers to employment faced by specific untapped talent groups.