November marks the midway point of the fourth quarter of the year, and as such, means that another year of workforce headwinds and opportunities is almost at a close. It is still too early to do a look at the year in review, but it’s not too early to begin drawing some conclusions about the previous 10 months. Below are three headwinds and three opportunities that Able has encountered so far this year.  

Headwind: Flat Funding 

Federal funding for some of our largest workforce programs, like the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and the Senior Community Service and Employment Program (SCSEP) have largely remained flat, even as the cost of services has increased. This obviously presented Able with a challenge: how do we continue to offer cutting edge service at a fraction of the cost? 

The solution was innovation, as well as diversifying our funding streams through a mix of private philanthropy and state and local grants. 

Headwind: Volatile Economy 

Despite the gradual easing of leading economic indicators such as inflation and interest rates, this year has seen its share of challenging economic moments. The unemployment rate in Illinois for September (the most recent data available) was 5.0%, which was more than one point higher than the national average of 3.9%. The Chicago metropolitan area’s unemployment rate was even higher, at 5.2%, demonstrating that the region’s economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic is still incomplete, and workers still need the training services Able provides.  

Headwind: Shifting Ground 

General economic sluggishness has had the downstream effect of forcing companies to reevaluate their workforces and make cuts. The third quarter alone contained more than 3,000 layoffs, according to Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) reports. Many of these were concentrated in Chicago, but layoffs occurred throughout the state. Even large companies like Walgreens, which is headquartered in Chicago, have announced layoffs of several hundred employees. Even though the economy is in better shape than it was in 2023, economic headwinds are still blowing strong.  

Opportunity: Digital Equity 

The last several years have produced a renewed emphasis on Digital Equity, or the goal of closing the digital divide by providing Internet service, digital literacy training, and digital devices to populations in need. In September, the U.S. Department of Commerce released a $1.25 billion funding opportunity to provide digital connection to people in need. The demand for funding was impressive — the government received requests for more than $6 billion in funding, more than six times the amount available. As the government begins making award decisions the rest of this year and beyond, projects to close the digital divide, such as through workforce training, will launch and begin enrolling participants.  

Opportunity: RemarkAble Training Program 

This year was the first full year of Able’s RemarkAble training program, and it is already off to successful start with room to grow. RemarkAble offers three levels (basic, intermediate and advanced) of workplace technology training for skills commonly required by employers that use Microsoft Office suite. Through RemarkAble, job seekers can build a “job search toolkit” with critical training on LinkedIn, and interviewing. RemarkAble also assists job seekers through a resume builder tool that can quickly and easily create resumes. And to better address the needs of new arrivals who use English a second language, Able developed a Spanish-language resume builder. Hundreds of job seekers have already used RemarkAble, and we anticipate that number to grow substantially in the year ahead.   

Opportunity: SCSEP Demonstration Grant 

This year, the U.S. Department of Labor released a new funding opportunity through SCSEP with the goal of testing new approaches to serve older workers. Able proposed a program to enroll older workers in IT and hospitality training in four service areas across the Midwest. In September, the Department of Labor awarded Able the funding to move forward with this program. The new older worker-focused training program is just another way Able innovates to provide the best workforce services we can to every individual we serve.