Development economists have considered physical infrastructure to be a precondition for industrialization and economic development. Infrastructure investments play a particularly important role in expanding overall employment opportunities either directly by absorbing workers or indirectly by crowding in private investments, technology adoption,…

Context: The article contributes to a discussion of how patterns of employment and qualifications are modified by the ongoing industrial transformation, called Industry 4.0. Although this transformation is said to be a global phenomenon, scholars increasingly discuss the national differences in the wake of Industry 4.0. Our article aims to…

In 2017, the authors began research for a book that would suggest training needs for the U.S. and Canadian workforce in the coming decades. Early in the research process they realized there was much more to understand in an evolving workplace than the call for reskilling workers. Workers would face many decisions influencing their careers while…

This study focuses on the agri-food sector in Morocco and 'drivers' of change for skills. It alerts education and training institutions to prepare workers for the jobs of the future. The Moroccan society and economy depend heavily on agriculture production, employing around one third of the population and accounting for around 12% of GDP over the…

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimated that approximately 9% of current jobs within OECD member states are threatened with automation and digitalization--all significant successes and advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, and computer science. With such global changes and forecasts, in the labor…

Ontario's 24 colleges will play a pivotal role in establishing Ontario as a global leader in higher education -- producing a workforce with the qualifications and expertise to help drive economic recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 lockdown. In its recently released white paper, The Future of Ontario's Workers, the StrategyCorp Institute of…

Industrialized nations have learned that vocational education is essential to developing a skilled work force. Newly industrialized countries competing in the global economy are finding that automation, multinational companies, and rapid growth are making investment in human resources through training a critical strategy. (SK)

Three nations, Great Britain, Sweden, and the United States, participated in the conference with representatives from management, trade unions, government, academic institutions, and interested observers. The International Labor Office and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development also participated. Speakers from each of the three…

A model of technological training has two dimensions: level of cultural stability and employee's level of cognitive ability. Each dimension has two variables. The variables of cultural stability are (1) technological adoption and organizational adaptation and (2) structure of work and work processes. For cognitive ability, the variables are…

This paper summarizes a comparative study of the impact of market and technological changes on human resources in banks and insurance companies in five countries: France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, and the United States. The research was organized around case studies of changes in 12 firms--9 banks and 3 insurance carriers. The paper discusses the…

Case studies of five French firms illustrate the impact of new work technologies on training. Liquid Corporation has embarked on changes in production technology in response to market needs. Four aspects of the change process are as follows: creating the climate for change, selecting operators, defining new training requirements, and training for…

In Brazil, electronic technicians are increasingly being asked to perform a number of technical and nontechnical tasks, for which they need complex education and training or multiskilling. The typical tasks faced by electronic technicians require a relatively high level of abstraction and symbolic learning. Required skills cover a broad range of…

This document contains three papers on issues in evaluation. "Evaluation of the Method of Modeling: A Case Study of the Finnish Steel Industry" (Ville Nurmi) describes the method of modeling as an educational strategy to support both specific goal-directed transformative learning focused on work process and learning in workplaces, and it…