Workforce Change in the U.S.

Two major forces - global competition and rapid technological advances - have profoundly changed, and will continue to change, the nature and content of work in the world in general and in the United States in particular which for decades has enjoyed an unchallenged competitive advantage in many economic sectors (Bassi, Benson and Cheney, 1996). Regarding the nature of this change and its consequences on the workforce of the future, the top five trends appear to be that:

(1) Skill requirements will continue to increase in response to rapid technological change;

(2) The American workforce will be significantly more educated and more diverse;

(3) Corporate restructuring will continue to reshape the business environment;

(4) Corporate training departments will change dramatically in size and composition; and

(5) Advances in technology will revolutionize the way training is delivered (Bassi, Benson & Cheney, 1996).

One way in which business and industry is dealing with the changes taking place in the American workforce and with the continuing trends connected with these changes is through contract training where contract training can be defined as custom training developed by colleges and sold to businesses and larger employers (Stamps, 1995a). Contract training programs typically are of two types.

First, there is the educational program which contracts to provide specific training to local b