This paper is intended to help those in a position to provide workers who are displaced by layoffs or plant shutdowns with assistance in adjusting to unemployment and finding new employment. The first section presents a summary of the transformation of the American labor market, showing the effects of economic and technological changes on the…

One promising practice for improving workplace preparation, apprenticeship, has been effective in preparing skilled workers for the changing needs of the workplace. Apprenticeship is a training strategy with eight components: it combines hands-on training on the job with related instruction; employer needs dictate programs; it is regulated by law;…

The most significant factors affecting the labor market during the 1980s were the United States' loss of competitiveness in the world marketplace, continued shifts in production from goods to services, changes in the skill requirements of many jobs, and demographic shifts in the population. During the next decade, incompatibility between the type…