Commuter Transportation Barriers
Many communities in Chicago have never recovered from the move of low-skilled and semi-skilled jobs, particularly those in manufacturing, from the city to the suburbs—and in many cases—out of the country. The mismatch between job location and housing has the greatest impact on the economically disadvantaged, as it effects geographical access to jobs, hours spent commuting, net pay, and, in many cases, child care. In most cases the urban poor are eliminated from participating in the suburban job market altogether.

Read more: Commuter Choice in the Face of Urban Sprawl (194K PDF).

Ridesharing
Needed: Sustained social marketing in support of ridesharing, driven by current research and funded as a public-private venture. Effective ridesharing would provide significant environmental, public health, and economic benefits for the citizens of this region and provide access to 90% of the lower-skilled job openings in the metro area. With little or no promotion whatsoever, ridesharing already holds a nearly equal market share to that held by public transportation.

Discrimination in the Temporary Staffing Industry
The commercial temporary staffing industry is notorious for discriminatory and exploitative practices. Racial and gender discrimination, exploitation of undocumented workers, and often cruel working conditions characterize many commercial temporary staffing firms in the light industrial arena.

Failure of Conventional Hiring Practices
Conventional hiring practices based on an individual’s background and experience level as they appear on an application or resume tend to immediately eliminate the hard-to-employ from consideration. The opportunity to prove oneself on the job through a temporary work assignment is essential to breaking down barriers to employment.

Solutions
Through its CoreTemp temporary staffing service, Suburban Job Link directly employs, trains, and supervises participants at private-sector work sites. As the employer, Suburban Job-Link can immediately overcome many of the barriers the participants face, including discrimination in the hiring process, work preparation, transportation and child care issues. And by providing on-the-job supervision and immediate problem resolution, the program ensures that the customer contracting for the workers is satisfied with their performance. The workers gain valuable experience and an on-the-job reputation as a good worker, which increases the likelihood of long-term employment. CoreTemp PLUS is an enhanced supported work program that employs individuals with multiple significant barriers to employment, who can particularly benefit from a transitional work experience that provides a springboard to long-term employment. Suburban Job-Link has established partnerships with Chicago Transit Authority and PACE Suburban Bus Company to operate subscription service linking city residents with suburban employment and is poised to engage in research on the potential for ridesharing among low-income people.

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