This paper was presented to a meeting of the Wellington Exchange, an international group of higher education officials, in December 2008. One of the topics of the meeting was around the issue of possible skills shortages emerging as a result of demographic trends, with the ageing of the population of developed countries. The paper argues that this…

This article presents a broad overview of the current employment situation in industrialized market economy countries and provides a general framework for examining some of the major employment issues confronting developed countries today. It argues for a broader approach to these issues and for a change in policy at the national level. (CT)

Employer-sponsored, job-related training as a means of satisfying labor demands has potentially profound implications for the operation of the nation's economic system. The alternatives of bidding for desired workers and downgrading job requirements tend to increase inflation and lessen productivity. Since the end of the 1960's, the ability of…