Retraining of employed technical professionals as an alternative to termination is being used by a small but growing number of firms. Case studies of involuntary and voluntary retraining generated guidelines for cost-effective programs: management support, candidate screening, career counseling, and realistic job previews. (SK)

A study examined the state spending patterns for dislocated worker assistance under Title III of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and the Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance Act (EDWAA), as evidenced by Department of Labor (DOL) semiannual reports and other DOL data, for program years 1985-88. JTPA Title III provides funds…

A study examined the Canadian-American Plant Closing Demonstration Project (CAPCDP) to assess the influence of the labor-management approach on factors critical to project success and to identify practices that enabled the labor-management committees set up under the project to work better. CAPCDPs in Idaho, Michigan, New Jersey, and Vermont were…

This issue discusses the problems that frequently accompany involuntary job loss. The types of problems experienced by dislocated workers are discussed under these categories: emotional, family, financial, physical health, job skill obsolescence, and lack of basic academic skills. The report also presents approaches that were taken by four…

The National Commission for Employment Policy estimates that 19 million workers--17 percent of the work force--are in jobs directly threatened by office automation, and the consequences of the displacement of clerical workers due to increasing office computerization are as serious as those from manufacturing job loss. Between 1983 and 1988, almost…

This document analyzes the labor market problems of displaced older workers. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapter 2 describes the magnitude of the problems of unemployment, discouragement, and displacement of older workers. The outcomes of unemployment are discussed, with attention to the duration of unemployment, the effects of displacement, and…

These 10 papers were commissioned for a conference to discuss such questions as: If the military has to restructure its work force, how easily will it manage this transition? How well will the affected employees do in the labor market? and How will the defense industry and educational institutions respond to the need for transition? After an…

The Older Worker Project was conducted to provide employment services to unemployed persons aged 45 and older who live in the western part of the Hennepin County (Minneapolis, Minnesota) area. Although the expected result was permanent employment of the participants, the intention of this demonstration project was to refine service approaches…

The question of why some employers opt to lay off current workers and hire new workers with different skills while other employers retrain and retain their workers was examined. First, the literature on employer-provided training and the role of social capital in the workplace was reviewed. Next, data from a 1994 national employers survey of firms…