This report describes the early experiences of selected upgrading programs currently underway in American industry. The research focuses on the practical perspectives of these efforts, especially the constraints encountered in program design and implementation, and the various techniques and responses which may overcome these constraints. The…

This is a report on 18 months of work done in an experimental and demonstration project designed to develop ways to meet in-plant skill needs by upgrading the job skills of entry level (mostly minority group) workers and by improving capacity for better employee-supervisor relationships. Project activity took place in three cities--Newark,…

Against the backdrop of training provision in the apartheid era and a description of the promulgation of a new skills development regime post-1994, this article considers the status and distribution of enterprise training in contemporary South Africa. It is found that reasonable progress is being made with training in large and medium-sized firms…

Characteristics of education and training provided by corporations, and the role of corporations as providers of education and as collaborators, competitors, and supporters of traditional institutions are examined. In addition, the history of corporate-based education and training is traced, and internal and external factors that determine what…

Describes various approaches in several states to creating jobs and providing vocational education and training through school-community programs, including secondary and vocational school cooperative job training for students and adults, inplant programs for employees and trainees, and skills training for small business entrepreneurs. (MF)

A sectoral survey focused on ways in which vocational training plans are formulated and analysis of the cost effectiveness of continuing vocational training at the company level. It examined techniques applied to developing continuing vocational training and improving access. National surveys carried out for the retail trade sector revealed…

The Manufacturers' Alliance for Productivity and Innovation surveyed the members of its two Human Resources Councils to obtain feedback on the training employers provide their employees. The survey inquired about features of company training initiatives, special training programs that arose from a specific training need that had been instituted,…

The decentralized structure and functions of labor unions and their educational programming are examined, and the support of federal and state legislation and colleges and universities are traced. The four union educational categories are labor education, apprentice education, vocational training, and self-improvement education. Labor education is…

A study examined training and staff development initiatives in Australian industrial and commercial organizations. It was carried out using a questionnaire and structured interview technique with 24 organizations. Larger organizations had their own facilities and trained in-house whereas smaller organizations made more use of Technical and Further…

Skill Upgrading in Cleveland (SUIC) is one of three manpower training and upgrading organizations which was funded to replicate and further test the High Intensity Training (HIT) model for upgrading underemployed workers. This report is a summary of activities aimed at upgrading low-skill, low-wage workers within a plant setting and with small…

Some of the few U.S. studies on the link between training and productivity have used a subjective measure of productivity or a measure of the productivity of the most recently hired worker relative to a fully trained worker, rather than output, labor productivity, total factor productivity, or value-added measures. Administered by the U.S. Bureau…

The National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce's National Employer Survey represents a unique source of information on how employers recruit workers, organize work, invest in physical capital, and use education and training in the workplace. The U.S. Bureau of the Census administered it as a telephone survey to a nationally…

A survey was conducted of selected two-year colleges to gain an in-depth knowledge about the business/industry training programs provided by these colleges and to quantify the efforts of two-year colleges to improve the quality of the work force and the efficiency of public and private enterprises. Study findings, based on responses from 54 of the…

This document contains minutes of the fifth meeting of the National Advisory Commission on Work-Based Learning. The meeting's stated objective was to produce a set of specific action steps for the U.S. Department of Labor to promote work-based learning. A summary of introductory remarks (Jack MacAllister) is followed by a description of the…

Part 1 of this conference report on employing the hard-core unemployed asserts the urgency of action by business and industry to meet employment problems, and presents examples of more active recruitment and liberalized hiring and placement practices, employer-sponsored education and training, efforts by employers to take action on transportation,…