Rockford Sun

Republican gubernatorial candidate Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) wants to bring back jobs to Rockford. The region has recently recorded a loss of almost 10,000 jobs.

Bailey blames Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

“The City of Rockford continues to get hit hard," Bailey said. "The Rockford region has lost nearly 10,000 jobs thanks to the inept so-called leadership of J.B. Pritzker. This is an abysmal record. We should be a leader in the Midwest for jobs and opportunities. Instead, we are lagging behind. This is not a result of [a] lack of resources. It is a result of bad policies. My message to the people of Rockford is: help is on the way. A Darren Bailey Administration will work with local officials in places like Rockford to reverse these trends and bring jobs and opportunities back to Illinois.”

The latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate downturns across Illinois from January 2019 to June 2022. Rockford comes in second with a 6.2% decline in employment numbers (from 158,466 to 148,575, a difference of 9,891). Bloomington's dropped by 1.2% (from 92,184 to 91,105, difference of 1,079), Carbondale-Marion's decreased by 2.9% (from 57,715 to 56,052, difference of 1,663), Champaign-Urbana grew only by 0.2% (from 118,669 to 118,888, difference of 219), Chicago-Naperville-Elgin's dropped by 1.7% (from 4,788,931 to 4,707,375, difference of 81,556), Danville's employment lowered by 5.3% (from 31,359 to 29,684, difference of 1,675), Davenport-Moline-Rock Island's decreased by 2.4% (from 186,409 to 181,871, difference of 4,538), Decatur, like Rockford, dropped by 6.2% (from 46,492 to 43,628, difference of 2,864), Kankakee had the largest decline in employment at 6.4% (from 52,830 to 49,431, difference of 3,399), Peoria's decreased by 4.5% (from 168,268 to 160,778, difference of 7,490), and Springfield recorded a 1.5% employment drop (from 102,108 to 100,529, difference of 1,579).

Bailey recently criticized Pritzker for increasing regulations on casual workers such as nannies and caregivers. “The last thing we need in Illinois is more red tape, more rules and more regulations. If we want to grow our economy and be a leader for jobs and opportunities in the Midwest, we need to prioritize policies that will create jobs, not jeopardize the ones we have. Pritzker’s priorities are misguided. Silly bureaucratic rules won’t grow our economy. Families are wondering how to afford to gas up their cars and purchase basic household necessities and the focus of the Pritzker administration is making sure people fill out time sheets for their nannies? It is no wonder we are losing jobs and opportunities here in Illinois,” Bailey said according to Prairie State Wire.

Many companies have moved their corporate headquarters outside of the state. Early in May, Boeing, the world's most successful producer of aircraft, announced its exit from the region, NBC 5 Chicago reported. The aerospace behemoth moved to Chicago in 2001 from Washington, where it was established. Chicago bested Dallas—Fort Worth, and Denver, among the choices back then. The pandemic caused the loss of almost 16,000 jobs or more than 10% of the whole workforce of the firm.

On June 14, Caterpillar announced it would be moving its headquarters to Irving, Texas. Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby said in a statement the move was for the best “strategic interest” of the company. Caterpillar said the move only affects approximately 230 employees in its headquarters, according to the Chicago Tribune.

“It’s disappointing to see Caterpillar move their 240 headquarters employees out of Deerfield over the next several years when so many companies are coming in,” Pritzker said in an emailed statement according to mining.com. “We will continue to support the 17,400 Illinoisans who work for the company.”