The scope and effects of employer-sponsored training in the United States were examined to determine the following: how economic and technological change interact with employers' responses to the new environment's demands; how employer-sponsored training affects the functional distribution of educational attainment, productivity, and earnings; and whether the United States underinvests or overinvests in training. Among the key study findings were the following: workers with higher levels of initial education are more likely to receive employer-sponsored training than are employees with lower levels of initial education; employer-sponsored training raises workers' wages and improves their employability more than other forms of training (such as general training in the classroom); better educated and trained workers are less likely to quit, be laid off, or experience long periods of unemployment; and craft, sales, managerial, and professional/technical occupations require the greatest amounts of training. It was recommended that better data about training costs be obtained, and that efforts to reduce the disparities in education and training among workers be focused on improving the quality of primary and secondary education because, left to itself, the labor market will reinforce, rather than reduce, the disparities in education and training among workers. (MN)