Work force growth will slow dramatically in the 1990s. To ensure a more prosperous future, productivity and competitive position must be improved. New high performance forms of work organization operate very differently from the system of mass manufacturing. These work organizations require large investments in training. The approach to work and…

A study was undertaken to determine whether vocational and special educators differed from employers on the entry-level employment skills and characteristics that are needed to be gainfully employed in the competitive labor force in the Lewiston-Auburn area in Maine. A questionnaire was mailed to a sample of 110 secondary-level vocational and…

A study of business and labor was conducted to define the performance skills expected of those entering the workplace in the 1990s and beyond. Survey respondents were 1,120 business people and 26 labor representatives in Illinois of whom 90 participated in follow-up roundtable discussions. Respondents identified and rank ordered nine basic skills:…

This interview with Carolyn Golding, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training at U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), discusses new requirements that global competition and technological changes are creating for American workplace and reviews the role of the DOL in the national debate on education. Training for participation in the global…

Compares employers' stated needs for entry-level workers possessing better academic skills with their training programs and hiring practices to supposedly meet this need. Discovers a dichotomy between the stated needs and the corrective practice. Most remedial training emphasizes short-term job skills and hiring practices do not reward academic…

The question of whether the online job market reflects the trends predicted for the job market was examined in a study of a random sample of 690 Internet job postings over a 6-month period. Each listing was categorized by type of position, desired qualifications, salary, and job specifications. Of the human resources (HR) jobs posted, 7.2% were…

North Carolina employers were asked to evaluate the skills possessed by graduates of the state's educational institutions. The study also profiled any problems employers had in finding qualified applicants for positions. Baseline data were collected to profile education and training programs provided by employers. A random sample of 2,334…

There are more than 4 million small businesses across the country that provide more than half of private sector employment, generate 47 percent of the gross national product, and generate two out of every three new jobs in the United States. Because small businesses provide the majority of new workers with their first work experience, they are at…

This research study attempts to determine how teenage workers develop their employability skills in their first formal jobs. Case studies were carried out in 12 Australian enterprises of varying sizes and drawn from different industry areas. In each case study the following staff were interviewed: senior managers and/or human resources management…

A stratified random sample of Virginia's 4,000 employers with over 100 employees was surveyed about workplace-based foundational basic skills (oral and written communication, reading, math, thinking skills, teamwork, English proficiency, and basic computer literacy). A total of 446 surveys were sent with a usable response rate of 18 percent.…

The capabilities expected of technological workers upon entry into employment were examined. Data were collected through a review of the pertinent literature and an in-person, instrument-guided interview survey of a representative sample of representatives of approximately 250 manufacturing enterprises in nine sectors. The literature review…

This document is the first in a series of two reports on demand-led strategies to support welfare-to-work clients. The authors believe employment retention programs that demonstrate they can meet the needs of employers for effective employees follow a demand-led approach, which has the potential to expand the opportunities available to welfare…

This document, which is intended to serve as a guide for workforce preparation program providers, details the Illinois Occupational Skill Standards for programs preparing students for employment as entry-level truck drivers. The document begins with a brief overview of the Illinois perspective on occupational skill standards and credentialing, the…

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) needs to focus more directly on what happens in the workplace and consider the needs of employers. Employers identify skill levels of both job applicants and employees as a major obstacle to employing and retaining TANF recipients and other entry-level workers as well as the cost of entry-level…

A project was conducted to improve the state of Washington's community and technical college system by developing and using an improved occupational forecasting system to assess and respond to education and training needs. First, long-term occupational forecast data from Washington's Employment Security Department were matched with technical and…