Industrial workforce demand climbs in Chicago

Quarterly chart showing increase across three industrial-space using sectors.
  • In Q3 2025, the Chicago MSA recorded 40,538 job postings across the three industrial space-using sectors, an increase of 21% from Q4 2024. Manufacturing remains dominant, consistently accounting for about half of all industrial postings despite seasonal fluctuations.
  • Companies with the most robust hiring goals in Q3 2025 included AbbVie, Roehl Transport and CR England.  Most recently, AbbVie announced a $195 million investment to expand it’s North Chicago manufacturing facility, enhancing domestic production of active pharmaceutical ingredients.
  • Job postings in all three sectors increased from the previous quarter with Transportation and Warehousing seeing the sharpest quarter-over-quarter growth, up 17%. Both CR England and Roehl Transport have large truck terminals along I-80, South Holland and Gary, IN.  Increased hiring by these two national carriers could signal an uptick in freight movement through the Chicago market and the Midwest.

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