In response to the increasing numbers of displaced workers due to corporate downsizing, Pellissippi State Technical Community College, in Tennessee, has initiated the Workplace Innovation (WIN) Project to help adults gain prerequisite academic and personal skills to re-enter the workforce or enter college for eventual placement in higher-paying…

Saltville, Virginia, is a former company town whose main employer, a soda ash plant, shut down on July 1, 1971. The closure of the chemical plant displaced 700 workers, and created a crisis that threatened not only the existence of the town, but of the entire region. In response, Virginia Highlands Community College (VHCC), in cooperation with the…

The Employer Specific Skills Training (ESST) Program strengthens New York State's economy by assisting employers and employees to become more productive and competitive through customized training and education. The program has three goals: (1) to foster cooperative ventures; (2) to use resources of local education agencies to respond to local…

The Area Consortium on Training initiated the Training for Technology Project to fill industry needs for skilled personnel and job needs for economically disadvantaged persons. Major accomplishments included establishment of a training team for economic development and for development of training programs; contacting of more than 100 employers;…

The House select committee met to hear testimony from parents, children, service providers, and researchers concerning the effects of job and income loss on families in central Illinois. The testimony of the first panel consisted of personal narratives. A high school student whose parents may move the family in order to find better paying jobs…

This report is an overview of the current status of farmers in the U.S. economy, with an emphasis on the characteristics of displaced farmers, the reasons for their displacement, the effects of their displacement on the economy, and some policy recommendations for the future. Following an executive summary, the report is organized in five…

This Congressional report contains the testimony presented at a hearing focusing on two bills dealing with worker retraining. The two bills, H.R. 26 and H.R. 1219, are intended to establish a system of individual training accounts in the Unemployment Trust Fund, amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to provide that certain contributions to such…

The utility of a quasi-experimental evaluation design for estimating benefits derived from a program to match job-seekers to openings listed by employers was examined in three studies of Job Service referrals and placements in Washington and Oregon. Data examined included a mail survey of a sample of 587 Washington residents referred to job…

A study assessed the formulas used to distribute funds to the states under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) 1998. It identified mismatches that might exist between the formulas and WIA's program goals and populations served and identified where the formulas are most vulnerable to wide fluctuations in funding levels from year to year. Issues…

Getting people back to work has become a national concern. The nation's economy lost jobs as of July 2003 for six months in a row, dealing another blow to a slow reviving labor market. According to the Labor Department, 486,000 jobs disappeared from the economy. And, the Employment Development Department in California reported a decline of 21,800…

These four papers are from a symposium that was facilitated by Toni Powell on the change process in organizations at the 1995 Academy of Human Resource Development (HRD) conference. "The Effectiveness of Change Agents as Affected by Strategic Interactions" (Marie A. George) explores the nature of strategic interactions exhibited by a chief…

Of the 19 projects conducted as part of the Defense Conversion Adjustment (DCA) Demonstration administered by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Work-Based Learning, 9 tested the dislocation aversion approach. The projects attempted to alleviate the negative impacts of defense cutbacks on communities, firms, and workers. Six projects…

This monograph examines adult education issues in Minnesota, such as the proper role of the Federal Government, institutions of higher education, the business sector, the non-profit sector, labor unions, the public schools and community education, teachers, public school administrators, and learners in the fight against adult illiteracy in the…

This document analyzes the labor market problems of displaced older workers. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapter 2 describes the magnitude of the problems of unemployment, discouragement, and displacement of older workers. The outcomes of unemployment are discussed, with attention to the duration of unemployment, the effects of displacement, and…

This document reports on the Alliance for Employee Growth and Development, which is a partnership among the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), the Communications Workers of America, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. After an introduction, the first section of the report describes how the alliance originated…