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…

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…

This hearing focuses on the implementation of the Dislocated Worker Program as well as the concerns of those responsible for the program's administration. Representative Augustus Hawkins, chairman of the Subcommittee on Employment Opportunities, opened the hearing by urging that more funds (rather than the proposed 55 percent reduction) are…

A study evaluated the economic outcomes of one state-sponsored training program--the California Employment Training Panel (ETP)--which captured the benefits of private job training within a public program. It examined the impact of ETP training on a new group of 41,959 ETP trainees trained in 1990-91 in the year after training and estimated the…

The transformation of Singapore from a stagnating colonial port city in the late 1950s into a newly industrialized city-state in the early 1990s was the outcome of planned adjustments to changing internal and external conditions. Training and retraining programs played a role in these adjustments. Although full employment prevailed in 1979, the…

To assist the Competitiveness Policy Council in drawing up this report, four of the Council's eight subcouncils were asked to provide their assessment of recent federal initiatives and to make any new recommendations that seemed appropriate. The participating subcouncils were Critical Technologies, Public Infrastructure, Trade Policy, and…

This monograph studies unemployment in relation to labor market vacancies throughout the United States, using a new set of data: the Survey of Firms from the Employment Opportunity Pilot Project, a labor market experiment conducted by the Department of Labor at 28 sites in 1979 and 1980. The monograph is organized in five chapters. The first…

Concern for performance management has increased sharply in recent decades in both the public and private sectors. This has been particularly true in the management of state and federally funded human resource development programs. Legislative purpose, level of use, the role of performance standards, appropriate measures of performance, target…

This report presents the views expressed at the Labor/Higher Education Council's National Meeting, the theme of which was "Education and Work: Redefinitions and New Strategies." Section 1 includes two keynote speeches: "Priorities for Economic Investment in People, Technology, and Public Works" (Ira Magaziner) and "Organized Labor's Stake in the…

To assist workers dislocated as Hungary and Poland move to market economies, the governments of both countries provide their labor force with unemployment compensation and various active labor programs (ALPs). ALP impacts were examined by surveying four randomly selected samples: 7,228 ALP participants from 10 counties in Hungary; 4,414 Hungarians…

Major policy, management, and program issues face the Congress and new administration in the area of labor. Many of the nation's youth are leaving school poorly prepared for the new work world. The nation already has a large group of economically disadvantaged people who lack necessary skills. Annually, 900,000 or more workers are at least…

This report is the product of a project called Investing in People, in which the National Conference of Legislatures and Jobs for the Future helped five states as they tried to develop and implement work force preparation and training strategies to meet the challenge of a competitive global economy. The report is organized in six sections. The…

A study examined the experiences of some 1.4 million American defense industry workers, displaced in the wake of the Cold War, as a way of reviewing and evaluating national policies toward worker adjustment and re-employment as they have evolved in the 1990s. The study found that the federal government, through the Department of Labor,…

This policy paper explores the nature and significance of human capital development. Its intended audience includes policymakers, students and researchers, and citizens who bear the ultimate responsibility for public policy. An introductory section defines human capital broadly to include all productive capacities acquired at some cost and…

Since September 11, 2001, New York City (NYC) has lost over 130,000 jobs, unemployment in the boroughs is around 9% and unemployment benefits have run out for many. NYC has long neglected workforce development, viewing it as a social service to distribute federal funds and train entry workers for dead-end jobs. To create a workforce system from…