Oversight Hearings On Dislocated Workers

This document records the oral and written testimony given by witnesses at a series of three Congressional hearings conducted in 1993 to review federal retraining programs for dislocated workers. Witnesses included representatives of federal and state agencies, and Private Industry Councils. Witnesses testified about their programs and what has worked and has not worked in their efforts to retrain dislocated workers. The existing programs were described and suggestions made for improvements, including putting programs in place before layoffs, and shortening the timeframe for retraining programs so workers can afford to complete them. However, according to witnesses, whatever successes have occurred have been tempered by the sluggish economy and the reality that most of the new jobs for which workers can be retrained pay substantially less than the jobs they have lost. (KC)