Kane County Could Move Employment and Unemployment Offices

Services in Kane County related to employment and unemployment are likely to be changed very soon, according to The Beacon-News. The employment and unemployment services are operated by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

An IDES spokesman, Greg Rivara, said on Friday that the agency will look to leave either one or both of its offices in Elgin and in North Aurora. Rivara spoke from the Chicago office of the agency about the possibility of this occurring sometime this year.

“There are no dates, no guesses what might occur, or when it may occur,” he said. “But we’re not going to leave Kane County.”

Rivara said that the agency is working on analzying its footprint in Kane County. The reason for this is that the tenant IDES shares space with in Elgin is moving. At the same time, the lease for the office in North Aurora is also due to expire soon.

Within Kane County, the Elgin and North Aurora locations serve customers. The agency has a third location in the county, located in Aurora, that is only for administration employees and not customers.

Even though employment and unemployment services are related, they are not the same thing, according to Rivara. He noted that for people who have a relation between employment and unemployment services, close to 90 percent of the claims are filed online or via the phone.

“Delivery that way meets best practices, it’s the way the majority of other states work and it’s cost-effective,” Rivara said.

The agency is funded with federal money and administered by the state government. Funding for the agency has dropped for three straight years due to more jobs and claims for unemployment have decreased. Rivara said that the agency continues to figure out different ways to cut costs.

With paper applications for unemployment benefits down significantly, the offices in Elgin and North Aurora could combine elsewhere in the county to one location. Rivara did make a point to say that no jobs would be lost if the offices were to combine.

“There’s no doubt that financial aspect will be looked at,” Rivara said.