Changes in the Nature and Structure of Work: Implications for Skill Requirements and Skill Formation.

Changes in the economy and the workplace are changing job skill requirements and the process of skill acquisition. A study analyzed occupational trends and projections, performed case studies of four industry sectors (apparel and textile, accounting, management consulting, and software development), and reviewed research on changing skill demands and educational responses. Conflicting views of job skills emerged--whether jobs would increasingly become "deskilled" or require increasingly higher order skills. Intensified competition, changing demand for goods and services, and an accelerated rate of change necessitate economic restructuring. Coping with these conditions requires changes in the organization of companies and industries and in relationships between suppliers and customers. There are implications for education and training in the changes in the relative numbers of high- and low-skilled positions, a more uncertain and less well-defined environment, and more complex interactions among people. Whether and how much of the preparation of the work force should take place in schools or the workplace is at question. One conclusion is that rather than deskilling, technological advances demand more conceptual and problem-solving abilities at all levels of the employment hierarchy. The traditional distinctions between academic and vocational education are being challenged, and learning must now be viewed as a continuous, lifelong process. (Includes an appendix on occupational structure, 6 tables, and 86 references.) (CML)