The recent health crisis -- and unprecedented, rapid job loss associated with it -- has illuminated how unprepared the United States is for helping workers who lose their jobs reskill to prepare for and successfully enter new employment. Policy responses to the current crisis -- while critical -- have fallen far short of addressing challenges…

This bibliography summarizes recent research on the structure and effectiveness of workforce development programs. While the term "workforce development" can mean many things, this document focuses on programs to help low-skill, low-wage and displaced workers increase their employment and earnings, as well as labor market trends that…

This paper is a sequel to Sirgy et al. ("Social Ind. Res." 68(3) (2004) 251), "The Impact of Globalization on a Country's Quality of Life: Toward an Integrated Model" published in "Social Indicators Research." That paper conceptualized globalization in terms of the free flow of four major components: (1) goods and services, (2) people, (3)…

Discusses the problems related to the retraining of laid-off workers: the scarcity of jobs, the belief that retraining does not help, failure of government retraining programs, and lack of employer participation in retraining programs. Suggests that one solution is continuous retraining of workers on the job--before they are laid off. (JOW)

Global economic competition and other factors have cost rural America 1.5 million jobs in the past six years. This brief analyzes job displacement figures from around the country between 1997 and 2003. The loss of rural jobs was particularly large in the manufacturing sector, and the rate of loss was higher in the rural Northeast than in the rest…

According to an analysis by the AFL-CIO, unemployment is still a problem 4 years after the end of the last recession. Since that time, although employment is up, many jobs lack adequate pay and benefits and many jobs are insecure. In addition, 7.7 million people are still jobless, compared to fewer than 3 million in the 1960s. In addition, the…

These four Congressional hearings investigate the role of the federal government in assisting long-term, structurally unemployed workers and in encouraging private sector efforts to retrain Americans. Witnesses who present statements, prepared statements, and articles represent the Urban Institute, Washington, District of Columbia; Forecasting…

This document reports on a congressional hearing on the impact of technological advancements on employment. Testimony includes statements and prepared statements from individuals representing conservation of human resources, Columbia University; United Steelworkers of America; The Brookings Institution; Xerox Corporation; and Panel on Technology…

Between 1981 and 1986, the U.S. manufacturing sector lost 1.2 million jobs. There is little regional variation in rates of plant closure, nor is there any correlation between cross-regional rates of industry growth and regional rates of plant closures. However, regional variation in rates of employment gains due to start-ups can be large and is…

In February 1993, a General Accounting Office (GAO) representative testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee regarding implementation of the Worker Readjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), which requires that certain employers give their workers and state/local governments 60 days' notice of impending plant closures or layoffs. The…

This monograph takes the perspective that increased awareness of how active labor market programs operate in other nations can substantially improve the way in which the United States deals with worker displacement. Chapter 1 considers the costs of worker displacement and how government programs designed to reduce these costs are evaluated.…

This policy statement on smoking and health was written by a working group of experts commissioned by the American Heart Association's Subcommittee on Smoking to study relevant issues and recommend appropriate policies for achieving a smoke-free society by the year 2000. To aid in developing and implementing public policies designed to facilitate…

The proceedings of a House of Representatives joint task force on the relationship of Federal budget policy to unemployment are presented. The hearings include statements from a representative of the United States Catholic Conference, economists of the Urban Institute, the vice president of the Committee for Economic Development, and a…

Prairie State 2000 began as an Illinois initiative to guarantee dislocated workers access to training funds from a pool of employer and employee contributions. Although its rationale was sound and the need was great, it was beset with a number of difficulties: there was no real market for the training, its grants and loans were not worth the cost…

The current displaced worker initiative towers over the 30-year effort to bring the economically disadvantaged into the mainstream of the labor market. The Congressional Budget Office defines displacement as all workers 18 years of age and older who lose full-time employment due to slack work, job abolition, or plant closure. Major displaced…