The approaches to employability being taken by United Kingdom employers were examined in a study that included three components: a literature review to develop a definition of employability and isolate its key elements; case studies of six organizations to identify employers' approaches to employability; and examination of related literature on lifelong learning and individual responsibility for career development. Four main elements of employability were identified. The first three are analogous to the concepts of production, marketing, and sales; the fourth element is the marketplace in which they operate. The following four approaches to employability were discovered: (1) explicit recognition that there are no more jobs for life and that individuals must, therefore, prepare themselves for career transitions; (2) reduction of the pain of reducing staff size by increasing departing employees' chances of finding another job; (3) inplacement or redeployment of staff whose skills are less in demand; and (4) maximization of employee retention by enhancing employees' employability. Special attention was given to the factors driving employers' selection of an approach. A range of practices that employers could adopt to increase employees' employability were identified, and a checklist to help employers develop a comprehensive employability policy was developed. (Contains 43 references.) (MN)