Summary: Strong foreign competition has underscored the need for a skilled U.S. labor force. It has also focused attention on the many Americans who are unprepared for employment. The federal government earmarked about $20 billion in fiscal year 1995 for 163 different training programs. GAO visited six projects that had outstanding results, as indicated by project completion rates, job placement and retention rates, and wages. The projects GAO visited differed in many ways, but they shared a common strategy that has four key elements: (1) ensuring that clients were committed to training and getting jobs; (2) removing barriers, such as a lack of child care, that might hinder clients' ability to finish training and get and keep jobs; (3) improving clients' employability skills, such as getting to jobs regularly and on time, working well with others, and dressing and behaving appropriately; and (4) linking occupational skills training with the local labor market. The upshot is that clients are ready, willing, and able to benefit from training and employment programs and move toward self-sufficiency.
