Education and the Transformation of Markets and Technology in the Textile Industry. Technical Paper No. 2.

This report on the textile industry focuses on the training and education of production-level textile workers--from unskilled factory hands to first-level supervisors. It is part of a larger study of the educational implications of broad economic changes, particularly the spread of microelectronic technologies, growing national and international competition, and the large increase in the number and variety of products and services. The analysis is organized in six chapters. The first chapter is an overview of the textile industry that describes the central trends, including rising imports, modernization, and the proliferation of products. Chapter 2 discusses technological innovations in textiles. Chapter 3 describes innovations in the organization of production and in the training and management of the work force. Chapter 4 summarizes the implications of the technological and organizational changes on the skill demands of the industry. Chapter 5 describes how the changes in technology, organization, and skills have affected the system for training and educating production-level textile workers. Finally, Chapter 6 discusses how that system might change to be more in tune with current needs of the industry and presents generalizations tying this report more closely to other case studies for this project. (KC)