Some 280 industry, education, labor, and state and local government leaders exchanged information about how Appalachian programs can harness technology to make traditional industries more competitive, package capital for job-creating industries and business, launch service industries, match education with jobs, and fit displaced workers into the…

The Congress passed the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) in 1998 seeking to create a system connecting employment, education, and training services to better match job seekers to labor market needs. However, questions have been raised about how WIA funds are being used and, in particular, how much is being spent on training. Contributing to the…

Discusses supportive career counseling acts within the framework of three types of support: (1) emotional support; (2) informational support; and (3) appraisal support. Provides specific illustrations of appraisal support interventions. Looks at the role of support in examining life-role salience, and its influence on the identification and…

Argues that, despite doubts created by the "dot-com" crash, the field of information technology (IT) is still crucial. Credentialing and certification are in demand by adults in the transitional workforce who require tangible results in a short time frame. Suggests that even non-IT companies are dependent on those in IT to run the nerve-centers of…

Discusses the socioeconomic effects of plant closings, focusing on the problems faced by dislocated workers who lack the financial resources to complete a retraining program. Describes the Eastern Iowa Community College District's efforts to train and counsel dislocated workers through its Caterpillar Worker Assistance Center. (DMM)

Examines the effects of job displacement on older workers, and presents a conceptual rationale for addressing older workers' needs for appropriate social timing, external and internal continuity, and life coherence in their work lives. Urges further qualitative research to explore the empirical parameters of the effect of these notions on older…

Presents a model of youth transition from education to work that takes into account the disrupting effects of global economic crisis and massive computerization. Suggests that investment in new technologies reduces employment and polarizes remaining jobs to unskilled and highly skilled categories. Discusses psychosocial integration strategies…

A vice president of RJR Nabisco discusses concerns regarding the entire workforce and stresses the need for a system that ensures universal access to technical training for all high school students, upgrade training for current workers, and positive training enhancements for dislocated workers. (JOW)

Global economic competition and other factors have cost rural America 1.5 million jobs in the past six years. This brief analyzes job displacement figures from around the country between 1997 and 2003. The loss of rural jobs was particularly large in the manufacturing sector, and the rate of loss was higher in the rural Northeast than in the rest…

In February 1993, a General Accounting Office (GAO) representative testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee regarding implementation of the Worker Readjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN), which requires that certain employers give their workers and state/local governments 60 days' notice of impending plant closures or layoffs. The…

To estimate the magnitude and temporal pattern of displaced workers' earning losses, a study used an unusual administrative data set that included employees' quarterly earnings histories and information about their firms. It created a longitudinal earnings file for a 5 percent sample of the Pennsylvania wage and salary work force. These data had…

Due to changes in agriculture and the resulting decline in numbers of migrant families, many migrant programs must redefine job responsibilities and retrain and reassign migrant support personnel. This practicum was aimed at retraining migrant educational and health support personnel in the job skills necessary to move into available Chapter 1…

This document records the oral and written testimony given by witnesses at a series of three Congressional hearings conducted in 1993 to review federal retraining programs for dislocated workers. Witnesses included representatives of federal and state agencies, and Private Industry Councils. Witnesses testified about their programs and what has…

In January 1986, the Employment and Training Administration sponsored a special study designed to answer some of the questions about displaced workers. The principal findings of the survey included the following: a total of 10.8 million workers 20 years of age and over lost jobs because of plant closings or employment cut-backs over the January…

Two reviews have been initiated regarding the extent of worker dislocation and efforts by the public and private sectors to assist dislocated workers. One assignment obtained information on the extent of business closures and permanent layoffs from a random sample of 2,600 such establishments via a telphone interview. Information on the assistance…