DES PLAINES – Two new grants from the U.S. Department of Labor will create nearly 1,300 jobs across Illinois to support the state’s ongoing pandemic response, and State Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) is pleased to see DuPage County will receive over $1.2 million to administer job training and placement programs.

“The pandemic has put thousands of Illinoisans out of work, but it’s also created a need for certain kinds of workers, like contact tracers, community health coordinators, food pantry workers and more,” said Murphy. “To meet the challenges this pandemic has presented us, we need to make sure our workforce has the skills to support our state’s recovery.”

DuPage County Northeast has been awarded over $1.2 million by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Security (DCEO) to place, train and hire Illinois workers to fill high-demand positions and assist local disaster relief programs.

DCEO received a total of $16.6 million as part of the National Dislocated Worker Program. The funding was distributed among 12 Local Workforce Innovation Areas to expand education and training opportunities throughout Illinois.

DCEO will partner with local workforce agency partners to fill high-need, temporary roles to help mitigate COVID-19 in communities, including contact tracers, COVID-19 protocol workers, building sanitization workers, temperature screeners, and food preparation and distribution workers.

Training and hiring for new workforce programs are expected to begin this fall. Local workforce agencies will prioritize applicants who have been laid off or otherwise lost their jobs during the COVID-19 crisis at the time of their application. A full list of available training and hiring opportunities is available on Get Hired Illinois.