Reports on a study that projects that technology will not cause clerical staff displacement during the next 10 years, but it may produce difficulties for persons looking for new jobs who have no experience with technology. Includes panel recommendations. (CH)

Instituted by the Norwegian Association of Engineers and Technical Staff this program provides the necessary training to enable technical personnel to keep up with changing technology. (BH)

Discusses a study to obtain data upon which to direct the future development of the secretarial arts program, to describe the secretarial arts graduate in terms of employment status and advancement opportunities, and to maintain contact with graduates. (JOW)

Presents the views of the Consortium for Worker Education (New York, New York), which advocates a formal schooling system to upgrade the skills of the American worker. The first step toward systemic worker education would be the passage of federal legislation to allow state and local governments to establish Workforce Development Boards to provide…

Discusses benefits of employee sabbaticals including (1) continuing employee education; (2) avoiding technical obsolescence; (3) reducing job-related stress and burnout; (4) creating a more productive work force; and (5) stemming the tide of early retirement. (JOW)

The Kodak Graphic Arts Manpower Study obtained information from over 1000 graphic arts companies as to the educational needs of today in graphic arts. Vocational educators may have to stop thinking in terms of graphic arts education and begin working on curriculums for career education in the communication field. (Author/DS)

A study of the software industry, in which required skills change rapidly and skills shortages frequently occur, showed how work projects were designed with restricted opportunities for workers to acquire new skills. Skill development was not valued by management. The industry may thus be abetting its own skills shortage. (SK)

A cross-sectional study of 842 faculty who served as department heads between 1965-92 was compared with 170 in a panel study for whom earnings were estimated using a personal effects model. The average chair received a 12% wage premium for administrative service. Skill depreciation was most severe and wage growth most adversely affected in the…

A study indicated that the modern manager either lacks the skills basic to effective dictation or the confidence to exercise them. A primary objective in business courses would be to establish dictation as a desired complement to management competencies and skills. Without managers who can dictate, the training of secretaries to take dictation has…

The author reports on the trend for manufacturing companies to spend heavily on retraining and retaining employees whose jobs have been abolished or dramatically changed. Employers have found retraining current employees to be more cost effective than hiring new workers. He describes a California state program that helps finance such training…

Reports on changes that will affect the labor force and the workplace. Trends include (1) the crumbling skill base, (2) the shifting skill focus, (3) the shift from physical to mental labor, (4) technology management, and (5) avoidance of obsolescence. (CH)

Data from Bureau of Labor Statistics research projects indicate that the pace of technological advancement varies significantly from industry to industry and few employees have been laid off as a result of these changes. Implications for industry concern productivity and retraining. (CH)

Many postsecondary technical education programs are facing obsolescence and need more than another course or piece of equipment to be effective. Educational institutions must restructure their programs, redesign their laboratories, and retrain their faculty. The business and industrial community is the direct beneficiary of a strong vocational…

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)