Illinois employers warn of nearly 1,700 job cuts

More than a dozen companies in Illinois will likely cut a total of nearly 1,700 jobs by the end of the year, according to a new state report. The June report for the Illinois’ Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, is filled with job cuts from a commercial printing company, a jewelry company,...

More than a dozen companies in Illinois will likely cut a total of nearly 1,700 jobs by the end of the year, according to a new state report.

The June report for the Illinois’ Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, is filled with job cuts from a commercial printing company, a jewelry company, a merchant wholesaler and many more. This is more bad employment news for a state already tracking dead last in the country for private-sector job creation in 2014.

The news is even more unwelcome for the families affected by the cuts before the holiday weekend.

The biggest blow was dealt by commercial printer Quad/Graphics Inc., which will lay off more than 500 workers in Woodstock, Ill., after closing a plant there.

Illinois is predicted to create the fewest jobs in the nation in 2014, and the state simply can’t afford to keep hemorrhaging jobs while its neighbors are on the track to greater prosperity. If state lawmakers are serious about turning around the state’s dismal jobs outlook, they must embrace bold, pro-growth reforms and focus on making Illinois an opportunity state.