On the same day Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Illinois has processed over one-million traditional unemployment claims, the governor launched a new online initiative aimed at getting residents back to work through virtual job training.
At Thursday’s coronavirus update press briefing, Pritzker announced the launch of a new online portal called “Get Hired Illinois” that he hopes will serve as a hub for residents to access virtual job fairs as well as gain free access to courses through Coursera, an online learning platform, starting next month.
“Through the Coursera Workforce Recovery Initiative, unemployed workers in Illinois will also have access to formal Professional Certificates, like the Google IT Support Professional Certificate, designed to train people without a college degree or any technical background for high-demand IT jobs,” Pritzker said.
Through the program, unemployed residents can enroll in courses and training from institutions like the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.
The free access will run through the end of 2020, according to Pritzker.
Also on Thursday, Pritzker announced IDES has processed over 1,076,000 unemployment traditional benefits claims from March 1 through May 9. He also announced an additional 50,000 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims filed since Monday when the state began processing claims for self-employed workers that don’t qualify for traditional benefits.
For more information on companies that are hiring, virtual job fairs and to view the new IDES resource, visit Illinois.gov/GetHired.
