A study was conducted to explore skills and work-related dispositions in technical work. It used a sociocultural approach to examine skills in seven target jobs in worksites representing diverse industries--health care, traffic management, transportation, and semiconductor manufacturing. It explored employers' strategies for obtaining the skills they need under conditions of technological or organizational change. Data were collected through observation of workers' activities, interviews with workers, and interviews with senior managers, staff, line managers, and human resource personnel. Interviews focused on three skill areas: problem solving, communications, and teamwork, as well as work-related dispositions--all areas that have been identified as required in the workplace. Some of the findings were the following: (1) generic skills and dispositions are important in work and to workers; (2) generic skills and dispositions vary with work context; (3) employers do not necessarily understand the skill requirements of their frontline work force; (4) employers may lack effective strategies for acquiring work force skills; (5) employers do little to foster skill development among nonmanagerial workers and sometimes take courses of action that undermine skill development; and (6) employers have weak connections with education providers for supporting acquisition or development of work force skills. (Contains 96 references.) (KC)