If you have college-bound kids, you might urge them to major in engineering. 

There is a critical shortage, according to P.J. Fitzgerald, chairman of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois.

“The current demand for skilled engineers and thousands of engineering positions here in Illinois will remain unfilled if adequate attention is not given to engineering workforce development,” Fitzgerald told a statehouse news conference Tuesday. “We are therefore seeking support in the General Assembly for legislation to keep Illinois engineering graduates here at home, working for both the Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois engineering firms.”

The group’s president and CEO, Kevin Artl, said engineering job fairs at the University of Illinois will draw companies from all fifty states.

Of the remedies the group seeks, one bill is a tax credit, and the other’s a loan repayment program.