The paper provides historical background of the training movement, an overview of the state of the art of personnel development in business and industry, and assessments affecting the future direction of human resource development in business/industry and public vocational education. An historical sketch traces training for work through apprenticeships and guilds, factory schools, Federal legislation for vocational education, professional organizations, and the effects of political/economic/societal forces. A section, "The Human Resources Pool," deals with the problem of determining who should be selected for training and by what means (testing, discrimination, and commitment to train the disadvantaged and handicapped). The section on "Human Resource Development," reflecting numerous studies, differentiates among terminology and provides general statements regarding facilities, methods and materials, courses and programs, costs, and evaluation. A section on "Organization and Management of Training" covers organizational structure, staffing of training programs, the role of the training director, inservice education, and professional organizations/journals. The author offers 15 conclusions on industrial training, nine predictions with related bibliographic citations, and 12 action-oriented recommendations. A bibliography of selected references is included. (EA)