Six observers studied both school-to-work transition programs for youth and retraining programs for adult workers in three Western European countries--West Germany, Sweden, and England. They identified European solutions to a pressing problem in the United States: youth and adult workers whose skills are inadequate for today's and tomorrow's jobs.…

The idea of developing a recurrent education system for noncollege-bound youth is not new. Yet, the issue has generally attracted little attention. In the United States, the general trend has been to direct resources toward providing wide access to a college education and underemphasizing education and training for noncollege-bound youth. If…

California's Employer-Based Training (EBT) Program focuses on preparing individuals for the new technologies of the future and responding to the real and current skills training needs of business and industry. The three major program components are: new programs in high and emerging technologies; private sector support for worksite-based training;…

The federal government needs to provide employment and training assistance to help dislocated workers to become reemployed. Worker mobility assistance should not be focused upon as a major thrust of reemployment programs, since American workers are remarkably resistant to pressures to move to more promising labor markets. Efficient and effective…

This document is a transcript of a fact-finding hearing conducted to evaluate the prospective impact of robotics (the use of sophisticated programmable or computer-controlled robots to perform routine and repetitious tasks) on employment in this country. Testimony and prepared reports were given by John Andelin, assistant director of Science,…

A retraining program for language teachers wishing to teach college-level business French is described. The course may be taught in five 5-hour weekend seminars or in a 2-week summer seminar of 12 hours per week. Since the teachers already have language skills, the course focuses on building confidence and interest in the subject matter by showing…

A college language instructor recounts his experience in a retraining program in business German at the West Germany's Goethe Institute. Twenty-eight individuals from the United States and from five European countries participated in a program that offered (1) a 14-day immersion into business-related German, (2) establishment of German business…

From February through March 1987, a questionnaire entitled "A Survey of Business and Industrial Personnel Educational Needs" was administered to factory workers. Data were collected from 475 blue-collar employees at four leading manufacturing plants in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Survey results indicated that nontraditional students may not be…

The National Commission for Employment Policy estimates that 19 million workers--17 percent of the work force--are in jobs directly threatened by office automation, and the consequences of the displacement of clerical workers due to increasing office computerization are as serious as those from manufacturing job loss. Between 1983 and 1988, almost…

This review presents a summary of the research on displaced worker programs and implications and recommendations for practice that the research supports. Chapter I is an overview of the displaced worker problem. It considers the extent of worker displacement and job loss and summarizes future projections. Chapter II discusses existing programs for…

The way resources are deployed to educate Americans will affect, as never before, productivity, the economy, and the quality of life. To maintain the present standard of living, Americans will be dependent on a continuous infusion of scientific breakthroughs and productivity-enhancing technology. Periodic upgrading of skills will be a necessity…

Two-year colleges, business, government, and labor together can ensure the availability of responsive, high quality job training and retraining as an essential element in the nation's economic revitalization. Although several national initiatives have set the stage for local business-college-labor cooperation, both nationally and locally, there is…

The importance of higher education in providing the skilled labor force needed to respond to changing technologies; the cost-efficiency of independent higher education; and implications for government, industry, and independent higher education are considered. The most readily changing technologies include computers and electronics, satellite…

Views of 705 state legislators about higher education in New England were surveyed in 1984. Five major topics in higher education were covered: quality, role in economic development, finance, communication between educators and legislators, and role in retraining mid-career workers. A large majority of the respondents felt New England colleges and…

Exemplary projects by unions and colleges are laying the groundwork for successful workers education. The University Studies/Weekend College program at Wayne State University (Detroit, MI) has a classical curriculum in general education that is both lofty and grounded in those areas most engaging to workers. Support of the United Auto Workers and…