Illinois is gaining significant success following its attempt to make the construction workforce more diverse, to the extent that pre-apprenticeship programs are now widespread all over the state. 

Apart from supporting women, people of color, and veterans to acquire the necessary skills for easy access to the trades, initiatives such as the Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship Program and the Highway Construction Careers Training Program have played an essential role in meeting the state’s infrastructure needs, which have been increasing exponentially.

The program is free for participants, and it combines the ideal mix of conceptual and hands-on skills. Financial and other kinds of support, like stipends, transportation, and childcare, have been instrumental in opening up opportunities for the participants to receive training. 

Black apprenticeship enrollment is on the rise and has nearly doubled over the last few years, while female participation in such programs has more than doubled since 2017.

Financial support has been a big factor as well. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity allocated more than $19 million in 2025 to the programs, enabling almost 2,000 participants all over the state to undertake pre-apprenticeships. 

The training can be conducted in various locations that could be non-profits in Chicago or community colleges in the less populous counties. The only thing they have in common is that they are all from different parts of the state, but they are all part of a collective effort to provide equal employment opportunities to the underserved.

Indeed, these efforts are at the very core of the Illinois Works Jobs Program Act, which is designed to guarantee that investments in the state contribute to job creation among groups that have been underrepresented in the past. Program managers are optimistic about the increase in enrollment, but they also believe that the challenge of scaling remains even as the demand for skilled workers rises.

Further, the fight for equity in Illinois has been extended to the contractors as well. The Illinois Attorney General, as previously reported by Contractor News, has supported the DBE programs, which, like public projects, share the goal of fairness and inclusion. 

Meanwhile, the most ambitious infrastructure undertakings, such as the I-270 Mississippi River Bridge expansion project, are the factors that are currently instrumental in providing new apprentices with numerous prospects to get into the field.

The state of Illinois is currently working on a large number of infrastructure projects worth billions, and as a result, the apprenticeship programs in Illinois are gradually becoming an integral part of the state’s workforce development as well as the long-term economic growth plan of the state.