This presentation was made to a breakout session at the 2011 Skills Australia and Industry Skills Councils joint conference, "Putting Skills at the Heart of Economy". The paper addresses the challenge of measurement in workforce development planning and discusses the role of the various players in the labour and training…

America is daily bombarded with reminders about how rough current economic times are, particularly in workforce development. Headlines scream, "Highest unemployment rate in 26 years" and "Jobs not likely to recover to pre-recession levels until 2012." In such an environment, it is easy to lose sight of serious underlying conditions affecting the…

The arts disciplines (visual arts, music, theatre, and dance) merit and require formal study. Policy makers should support studies in the arts as core disciplines, as specified in the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)," the federal legislation that sets policy and appropriations for public education. The arts merit and…

The training received by workers depends predominantly on the organisational choices and funds allocated by businesses. It is therefore justifiable to ask whether public policy should either endorse the spontaneous distribution of training or take measures to correct it. This paper analyses the motivations and limitations of public intervention,…

Five major challenges facing vocational education are (1) the changing demographic composition of the United States; (2) the shift from a manufacturing to a service economy and decline in productivity; (3) composition of the labor force; (4) reform of preparation for work; and (5) the politics of race. (SK)

This article introduces the main objectives of special public works program and presents the major findings of evaluations of a number of such programs implemented in developing countries with the assistance of the International Labour Organization in regard to design, organization, training activities, technical aspects, and employment and income…

This report examines worker-centered productivity and discusses the organizational and educational strategies for its improvement. Chapter 1 explores the meaning and measurement of productivity and the benefits of productivity improvement--profits, a weapon against inflation, success in international trade, increased standard of living, improved…

Although education and training were distinct concepts when Taylorism dominated the workplace, it is no longer appropriate to separate them. Today's highly competitive environment requires the education of a flexible, multiskilled workforce, not training for narrowly defined employment tasks. (SK)

Reindustrialization problems in the United States (U.S.) include unemployment, low productivity, inflation, and inadequate economic growth. To determine how to improve economic performance, a careful, rational evaluation must be made of such factors as tax policy, spirit of risk, managerial effectiveness, rates of innovation, research and…

This monograph is a report on the impact vocational education can have on improving worker productivity. Specifically, the monograph presents a discussion of the relationship between vocational education and productivity and identifies potential areas of impact. The first chapter discusses the concept of productivity and its relationship to…

The issues of harmonization and autonomy as they affect vocational education and manpower policy development and the implementation of program service delivery are analyzed. Some of the background issues that have affected the relationship of vocational education and manpower, in particular the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), are…

The People's Republic of China has dedicated itself to the achievement of the Four Modernizations--science and technology, agriculture, industry, and national defense--which will move the nation to the high levels of technology found in the advanced nations of the world. (JOW)

In education and the workplace, people are the most valuable resource. Developing human capital can produce competitive advantages for employers and employees. (SK)

Described in the report are the social, demographic, experiential, educational, and ascriptive characteristics of sixteen- to nineteen-year-old jobless youth in the United States. Population sampling, data collection, organization, and reporting methods applied in the Current Population Survey (CPS) of 1979 (the major source of data) are reviewed.…

In 2003, we wrote a critical reply to Frank Coffield's reflections in this journal on the significance of the Performance and Innovation Unit's project on workforce development for the future direction of skills policy in England. As Coffield made clear in a rejoinder, underpinning our arguments are fundamental disagreements about what would be…