The relationship between skill demands, changing work organization, and performance was examined in a study of workers across 15 "benchmark" jobs in each of 8 public utilities. Skills issues were assessed by plant managers, workers, and their supervisors. Randomly selected managers/supervisors reported a series of performance measures for each employee. The response rate was 100% for supervisors and 85% for employees. A total of 91 supervisors responded, and there were 553 usable matched responses between supervisors and employees. Employees and supervisors alike considered basic academic or Foundation Skills (skills associated with more traditional, school-based education) more important than workplace competencies (more vocational/work-based skills). Foundation skills were deemed more important for improving performance than were workplace competencies, and deficits in foundation skills were associated with poorer overall job performance. The perceived need to improve foundation skills was associated with more positive attitudes and behaviors. It was further concluded that higher levels of the task-oriented aspects of jobs do seem to raise skill needs whereas the basic concepts associated with high-performance work systems do not. Interpersonal skills were the skills most stretched by both types of work organizations. (The survey instruments and tallied responses are appended. Contains 49 references.) (MN)