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Chapter 3

Training and Education forOffice Automation

Contents

PageTechnology and Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

The Stakeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Basic Skills Required for Office Automation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Determining Training Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Methods for Delivery of Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79How Is Training Obtained? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81The Adequacy of Office Automation Training . . . . . . . . . . 83

Education for Office Automation Technologies . . . 85Teachers and Computers . . . . . . 87Curriculum Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ‘ . . . . . .“. 87Access coeducation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Policy Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Policies in Foreign Countries . . . . . . . . . . . 89Existing Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89State and local Practices . . . 91Policy Options . . . . . . . . . g~

Tables7’ahle No. [~~g~3-1. Average Costs for Training Among Selected Office-Rela~ed Occupations 773-2. Sources of Training Needed for Obtaining Current Job Among Representative

S e l e c t e d O f f i c e - R e l a t e d O c c u p a t i o n s . . . 843-3. Sources of Training for Skills lmpro~’ement Among Re[*rcsentative

O f f i c e - R e l a t e d O c c u p a t i o n s . 85

F i g u r e

Figut-e NO. P2ge

3-1, The IJse of Computers in Elementary and Secondary School Education 86

Chapter 3

Training and Education forOffice Automation

schools, private schools, commercial schools,and employers. hluch of this training is recrea-tional, such as crafts, photography, and travelclasses. However, much of it is also job related:for example, computer courses.

There are signs that a large part of the pop-ulation does not, have access to training, whichcreates inequities in opportunities for avail-able jobs, The lack of coordination on a nationallevel of information on training and educationfor work and on job opportunities hampers t heability of individuals to plan careers and tO

adju st to changing job markets. The benefirsfor the individual changing new skills arenotonly higher income and greater imcome security,but also an increase in self- esteem and con-

fidence. which promotes the ability to learnadditional new ski11s.

Training and continuous education and oppor-tunities for acquiring office automation skills

76 ● Automation of America Offices —

TECHNOLOGY

New technologies and the accompanyingtraining needs seem to operate in cycles. Thetraining cycle for a technology has been de-scribed as follows:l

new technology introduced—employersprovide extensive training and upgradingof employees because of lack of availableexpertise in the work force;technology becomes widely adopted andequipment is standardized-specific skillsbecome general skills; employers lose em-ployees to other firms;employers cease to provide general train-ing; training is shifted out of the work-place and into the schools, and firms fo-cus on firm-specific skills;increased demand makes it feasible forpublic and private schools to standardizeand formalize training; andthe industry using the technology, or thetechnology itself, declines; demand forskills contracts—training focused on re-placement needs of the firm and on retrain-ing of displaced workers.

Office technologies are in the early stagesof this cycle. Some employers are continuingand even increasing their expenditures ontraining, but with the largest proportion spenton management skills training. Some are be-ginning to require skills in using automatedequipment as a condition for employment, asthey find a more plentiful supply of alreadytrained workers.

Public and private educational systems arenow offering training in office automation aswell as providing the genelal education neededby office workers. U.S. companies spend $40billion per year on further education and train-ing of workers. z Over 21 million people par-ticipated in adult education (part-time, non-degree studies) in 1981.3 Fifty-seven percent

‘Patricia Flynn, The Impact of Technological Change onJobs and Workers (Waltham, MA: Bentley College, March 1985).

-Manpower Comments (Washington, DC: Scientific Man-power Commission, July-August 1985), p. 7.

‘Digest of Education Statistics, 1983-84 (Washington, DC:U.S. Department of Education, National Center for EducationStatistics, December 1983), p. 157.

—-

AND TRAINING

of these courses were in formal educationalinstitutions such as universities, vocationaland trade schools, community colleges, orelementary and high schools. Twenty-sevenpercent of the courses were provided by busi-ness, labor, and professional organizations orgovernment agencies. Sixty-one percent of thecourses taken were job related, that is, weretaken to improve skills for a current job orto get a new job.4

The Stakeholders

According to the Bureau of Labor Statis-tics (BLS) the work force is expected to growby 23 percent by 1995. BLS projected growthof 1.6 percent per year between 1982 and 1990.This would slow to 1.0 percent per year be-tween 1990 and 1995.5 This is based on a pro-jected population increase of 12.5 percent by1995. 6

About 75 percent of the U.S. labor force for2000 is already in the labor market, creatinga great need for adult learning opportunities.As the “baby boom” generation ages, the needfor teaching new skills to an adult work forcehas been termed an “adult learning crisis.’”The term “crisis” refers to the wide gap infuture skill requirements for work in auto-mated offices and the current capacity to trainadults, and was identified for example in theLeontief-Duchin employment forecast describedin chapter 2. Changes in elementary and sec-ondary education will have little immediateimpact on these adult learning needs in thenext two decades, since the formal educationalsystem may reach only 25 percent of that workforce that are new entrants.

‘Tra”ning, October 1983, pp. 54-68.Randolph Brown, “Demographics of the Current and Fu-

ture American Work Force, ” Profit Sharing, vol. 32, Novem-ber 1985, pp. 5-17.

“The BLS projected population for 1985 was 237.5 million,The population, according to the Bureau of the Census, actu-ally reached 238 million in May of 1985 that indicates thatthe total for 1985 will be somewhat higher than was projected.

“Lewis J. Perelman. The Learning Enterprise: Adu)t Learn-ing, Human Capital and Economic De\’elopment, The Councilof State Planning Agencies, 1984, p. xv.

Because of continuing technological change,office workers will have to train and retrainover a lifetime. This will have a heavy impacton the resources of both providers of trainingand of those who are trained. In 1981, whenthe average annual earnings in private indus-try were just over $13,000, 42 percent of theparticipants in adult education had incomesof over $25,000, 42 percent had incomes of$10,000 to $25,000, and 12 percent had incomesof under $10,000 (the remainder were unre-ported).”

Average costs for training in some office-related occupations are illustrated in table 3-1. Additional costs to the trainees are reducedleisure, family, and personal time. These costscan be a substantial barrier, especially for thosewith child care and other family responsibilities.

Women, who are heavily employed in cleri-cal work and increasingly striving to move upin organizational hierarchies, have a large stakein the changes in jobs and training. Womenhave constituted a large proportion of the in-crease in the labor force in the past 15 years.

Blacks have also been moving into office jobsin the past three decades, increasing their par-ticipation rate in clerical jobs from 2.7 per-cent in 1950 to 10.2 percent in 1984. They,too, have a strong interest in the changesoccurring. Black and other groups will enterthe work force at a faster rate than whites,and will account for about one-fourth of theprojected increase in the labor force to the year1995.9 Hispanics will also make up a larger

‘Digest of Education Statistics, 1983-84, op. cit., p. 157.‘Monthlev I.abor Retiew (Washington, DC: U.S. Depart-

ment of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, November 1983), p. 3.

Table 3-1 .—Average Costs for Training AmongSelected Office-Related Occupations

Costs (dollars) Hours

Occupation Public Private Public Private

Ch. 3—Training and Education for Office Automation . 77

part of the office work force because of a higherbirthrate than whites and because of high im-migration rates.

The group most effected in the past by dis-crepancies between skills required for avail-able jobs and their own education and skills,are young workers, and especially those frominner-city minorities. More than 40 percent ofthe unemployed in January 1983 were under25 years old.10The rate was 50 percent for blackteenagers. This situation may be somewhatalleviated by the decrease in number of youngworkers, but the problem of lack of neededskills will continue to limit the opportunitiesin office work for many young minority workers.

The 35 to 50 year olds who will constitutethe largest group in the work force until after2000 have completed their basic formal edu-cation. Their additional training and educa-tion will be achieved through on-the-job train-ing or through their own efforts outside theworkplace.

Older workers also have a stake in chang-ing skill requirements. There is no evidenceto prove that age is directly and linearly re-lated to performance,” or to learning, but thereis less incentive for organizations to offer con-tinuing education and training to older work-ers as they approach early retirement age. Atti-tudes on the part of managers that reflect theirown perceptions of a worker’s capabilities playa large part in determining what training isoffered. While there is no evidence that intel-ligence, learning ability, memory, or motiva-tion decline with age until very late in life,12

this perception can seriously affect the kindand amount of training and retraining thatis offered to older workers.

Accounting . ... . . . . . . $488 $2,893 1,238 1,019Bus iness admin is t ra t ion 395 3,913 1,148 1,198Secretary, . . . . . . . . . . . . 541 2,903 998 1,043Computer programmer . . . . 551 3,473 1,276 704Clerk . . . . . . . . . 507 1,870 924 785SOURCE U S Department of Ed;catlon National Cen!er for Educa!lon Stat[s-

tlcs Dfgest of Educ~fIon Stat6t/cs, 79831984, Washington, DC table139

. . —.—“’The Emplo.vment Situation: December 1982 (Washington,

DC: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics,Jan. 7, 1983).

“U.S. Senate, Special Committee on Aging, The Costs ofEmplo.ving Older Workers ( Washington, DC: U.S. GovernmentPrinting Office, September 1984), p. 4.

-Ibid., p. 59.

Basic Skills RequiredOffice Automation

for

Whether skills required to work in auto-mated offices are at a‘ ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ levelthan those they are replacing, and whethermore or less training and education will beneeded by future employees, has been the sub-ject of much debate.

The basic skill requirements for all officework can be obtained through the traditionaleducational system. These include reading,writing, spelling, and some math proficiency.Problem solving, abstract thinking, commu-nications, and interpersonal skills are increas-ingly important. But studies have concludedthat one-fifth of the Nation’s adults do nothave adequate reading and writing skills tofunction competently in the labor force. ”

Some office automation equipment will fos-ter jobs that require less skill than do manualoperations, but many jobs found in an auto-mated office require a higher degree of dis-cretion, initiative, understanding, and crea-tivity. A few specific skills become redundant,but many workers must cover a wider spanof work activity than before, often in a shortertime span.

The degree of automation achieved may de-termine the skill levels required. In the fac-tory, levels of automation vary from a powertool that is hand controlled to a robot thatidentifies and selects appropriate actions andcorrects its own performance while operating.The skills required can increase as tasks areautomated but only to a certain level. 14 Whenthe automation reaches higher levels the re-quired skill levels can decrease, as the workeris required only to monitor the machine andrespond when the machine warns that some-thing is wrong.——.

‘See Norvell Northcutt, Adult Functional Cornpetenc~’,Adult Performance Levels Project, Industrial and BusinessTraining Bureau, University of Texas, Austin, 1975.

“James Bright, “The Relationship of Increasing Automa-tion and Skill Requirements, Employment Impact of Techno-logical Change, Appen&”x Volume II: Technology and the Amer-ican Econom.v, National Commission on Technology,Automation, and Economic Progress (cd.), Washington, DC,1966, pp. 11-209.

Most offices are now at the lower to middlelevels of automation; it is likely that the skillsrequired are more complex at this time becauseof the many sets of rules that need to be learnedto operate the new equipment, and becauseof the changes in the work process and in rela-tionships between work groups.

Among clerical workers surveyed by KellyServices, Inc., 88 percent of the 613 respond-ents believed that their skills were increasedby automation and that this would help themobtain salary increases, even though only 30percent of them had achieved such increasessince acquiring new skills.

Some experts15 challenge the popular beliefthat computer training should be basic inschools in order to prepare students for theworkplace, on the grounds that the “higher”the technology, the lower the skill level re-quired. A BLS analysis indicates that only asmall percentage of new jobs in the future willrequire computer literacy beyond what can belearned on the job in a few hours or days. ”Others challenge the assumption that jobs re-quiring use of a computer are automaticallytransformed into “knowledge work. ”

Researchers seem to be in agreement thatthe number of jobs available in the future re-quiring in-depth knowledge of computers arenot a large proportion of projected new jobs.However there is also general agreement thatskills will change for many jobs (particularlyoffice jobs) and that training and retraining,probably throughout the lifetime, will be re-quired for many workers. As lower level cleri-cal jobs are automated and eliminated, the re-maining jobs will require higher level skills.To what extent employers are willing to pro-vide this training on the job will depend onthe availability of workers who have obtainedthe required skills elsewhere. From the work-ers’ point of view, achieving these skills willbe critically important in obtaining employ-

‘r’For example, Douglas Noble, “Computer Literacy andideology, ” Teachers College Record, vol. 85, No. 4, summer1984, pp. 602-614.

“Henry Levin, “Jobs: A Changing W’orkforce, A ChangingEducation’?” Change, vol. 16, october 1984, pp. 32-37.

ment and in making job changes throughout to be reasonably competent. However, theretheir lives; 81 percent of adult Americans feel are man-y jobs in insurance, banking, and else-that additional training will be required of where, in which the automated system is anthem because of changes in the workplace. ); integral part of the work process. Weeks or

even months of training and practice may beDetermining Training Requirements needed before an employee is fully competent.

The major factors to consider in determin-ing training requirements are the needs of theusers (their current skill level and learningneeds level), the nature of the technologicalapplications and products in a specific office,and the characteristics of the job.

Users of automated office technologies in-clude: 1 ) those currently unfamiliar with com-puters; 2) those who currently use computersas tools to perform specific tasks but areunaware of “how the computer works”; and3) those who program, perform systems anal-yses, and do other work that requires under-standing of how computer systems work.OTA case studies indicate that an increasingnumber of computer users fall between divi-sions 2 and 3; they are not computer pro-fessionals and they usually employ softwarepackages developed by others; but they mayoccasionally write small programs to improvethe computer’s effectiveness as a tool.

The tasks to which office automation canbe applied include: 1) tasks that require onlya well-defined, step-by-step procedure; 2) tasksthat require a limited amount of problem solv-ing; and 3) tasks that involve analyzing andmanipulating data to achieve some goal. ‘g

For some tasks in the first category, train-ing may be brief—as little as a few hours. Evenfor tasks in the third category, learning to usea computer as an effective tool may take rela-tively little time when the worker already hasother expertise. For example, an economistlearning to use a statistical package may re-quire only a few days’ training and practice,

“America at M’ork: The E\’olving Role of Proprietaryt’ocational I+; duration, ITT Educational Ser\’ices, Inc., Indi-anapolis, I h’, 1982. Summary of a survej of a representatikrenational cross-section of more than 1,000 adults.

“Paul liarmon, “Training: Psychology Meets Technolo~’, ”Computer Jl”orld, ~lay 2, 1983, p. 9.

‘Ibid., p. 12.

The organizational structure and environ-ment also has a bearing on training require-ments and success. Skill needs change as anemployee moves up in the hierarchy of theorganization. Training managers to superviseworkers in an automated office environmentis a different process from training workersto use the equipment. The immediate work-ing environment depends largely on the phi-losophy of the organization’s management.Management may or may not, for example,consult employees about the implementationof office automation, the redesign of the work-flow, and training methods.

Methods for Delivery of Training

Research has demonstrated the importanceof hands-on experience in learning office auto-mation skills; how well people learn a new skilldepends heavily on how much “engaged time”’they spend on the learning,’n although expertsdiffer as to whether this applies to less moti-vated trainees to the same degree as it doesto the highly motivated. Hands-on and on-the-job training assure that the trainee is “en-gaged” during the learning session.

Self-teaching (and mutual learning) appearsto be the most common mode of training, fol-lowed by home study. But there are some prob-lems with self-teaching. The lack of formal,guided instruction for all employees createsan unequal knowledge base, leaving some em-ployees at a disadvantage. For example, manyworkers are not allowed training time on thejob, and have responsibilities that take up theirtime off the job, and so are prevented fromlearning even when they want to do so,

-“Raymond Nickerson, “Information Technology and Ps?,-chology, ” Third Annual Houston S~mposium (New York: Prae-ger Publishers, 1982), p. 203.

Generally, when office automation equip-ment is purchased, the vendor provides alimited amount of orientation training, oftenin a classroom setting or through computer-based training. The users must then experi-ment independently to determine what appli-cations are best for their own specific tasks.Coworkers supply additional knowledge.

Key workers are often used to train othersin an office and assist them in acquiring officeautomation skills. These “internal trainers”may receive formal training from the vendoror may develop expertise on their own. Thenthey must “interpret” the skills and tutorother staff members. Other office workers ben-efit by learning from someone who knows boththe business operations and the system.

Beneficial as this short cut to formal train-ing may seem, it may not be as productiveas it first appears. The internal trainers areoften volunteers whose formal job descriptionsdo not take this role into account and no al-lowance is made for it in their official workschedules. 21 They must balance the importanceof their training activities against the possi-ble loss of productivity in their own assignedduties. While the key workers often enjoy theirteaching role, they may or may not be goodteachers and may or may not treat coworkersfairly in sharing their time and attentionamong them.

User groups are formed by users of a tech-nology to share information and to assist eachother. Such groups are usually formed byemployees and are most often managed andmaintained by the users themselves. Usergroups are also encouraged by equipment ven-dors. Outside help or intervention is rare.During meetings, users take on the role ofteacher, translator, trainer, problem solver,and student.

Centers for learning, testing, and exchang-ing information (often called user or technicalinformation centers) have been established in

“Tora 13ikson, Don Mankin, and Cathleen Stasz, “Individ-ual and Organizational Impact of Computer-Mediated Work:A Case Study, ” The Rand Corp., OTA contract report, March1985, p. 42.

many organizations, as a place that employ-ees may go to learn about automated technol-ogies. These “user information centers” mayoffer a variety of services including—instruc-tional classes, computer-based training, hard-ware and software testing, rating guidelinesfor applications and prepurchases, and educa-tional and informational publications. Thetraining is most often self-initiated by theworker seeking basic skills or further applica-tions knowledge. These forms of in-house,group learning are beneficial because peoplefeel rewarded when they meet new challengeson their own.

Computer-based training (CBT) for learningoffice automation skills is increasingly avail-able. There are multiple choices of off-the-shelfequipment and systems, standard sets of equip-ment and software programs that can quicklyand easily be adjusted to a variety of require-ments. Some include optical disk and videotext. As more manufacturers and vendors haveentered the field, the cost of CBT hardwarehas decreased; it is no longer a prohibitivefactor in most cases. In its 1984 industry sur-vey, Training magazine reports that 46.4 per-cent of all responding organizations use com-puters for training.22

Computer-based training is popular becauseit reduces the two most commonly cited prob-lems of training-cost and time. One expertreports that the use of CBT reduced courselength and that students trained on such tech-niques achieved the same or a better level ofperformance than was achieved by those trainedin the longer conventional instruction courses.A review of the literature found no evidencethat the use of computer-managed instruction(CMI) or computer-assisted instruction (CAI)caused students to do less well than controlgroups receiving other forms of instructionwithin the classroom.23 Two matters cause con-cern when CBT is used—the fidelity of thetraining system in simulating the work envi-

“Training, October 1984, p. 56.“S* Mildred D. Jarvis, “Computer Based Training: Les-

sons Learned, ’ Proceedings of the Human Factors Society—28th Annual Meeting, 1984, pp. 515-519, also her reference toOrlansky and String’s report on the cost-effectiveness of CBTin military training, 1979.

Ch. 3— Training and Education for Office Automation ● 8 1

Phofo cred(t D~gfta/ fqu~~rnen( CorP

Computer-based training

ronment, and the quality of the written docu-mentation used in the training. The closer thelearning situation follows the work setting, asopposed to merely presenting drill and prac-tice exercises, the greater the applied learn-ing that is acquired. Poorly written docu-mentation prevents trainees from advancingthrough the stages of learning or achievingthe highest level of learning possible.

Home study is a growing alternative to for-mal classroom-based training. CAI and CM Ipackages are offered, for example, by the Na-tional Radio Institute (NRI), which providestechnical correspondence courses. Cost is therestricting factor for home study because itis expensive to convert courses to technology-

oriented modes of delivery and because thestudents must often purchase their own hard-ware and software to study at home. However,for basic education, TV-presented courses arevery cost effective. While sending employeesto a training seminar or conference can costapproximately $40 per hour, and a universitycourse can cost $7.50 per hour, a TV coursecosts only pennies per hour.

How Is Training Obtained?

A survey of Fortune 1500 firms” indicatedthat companies, when automating offices, are——.—

-“ ‘America at ~’ork: The Management Perspecti\7e onTraining for Business, ” I’IT Educational Senices, Indianapolis,IN, 1983, p. 44.

most likely to hire new employees with therequired skills (44 percent), switch employeesinto positions requiring no additional skills (40percent), or reduce the number of employees(40 percent). Thirty-six percent switched em-ployees into positions that required additionaltraining.

In addition to formal education institutions,many public and private sector organizations,including unions, are involved in providingtraining and/or education, but demand so faroutstrips supply. Some experts have ques-tioned whether the capacity exists to respondto all training and retraining needs. Many busi-ness organizations are increasing their budgetsfor training. A 1983 survey of 1,821 privateand government employers” showed that 1984training budget increases were predicted by47.4 percent of the companies surveyed, but53.5 percent actually did increase those ex-penditures in 1984.

Although it varies considerably by indus-try, the dollars spent on nontechnical train-ing such as sales and supervisory skills, out-weigh the dollars spent on technical trainingsuch as word processing, programming, andelectronic testing. Also, according to thissurvey 26 managers were much more likely toreceive training than lower level employees.Midlevel managers and first line supervisorsreceived an average of 32.5 hours of training,executives received 28.3 hours, and profes-sionals, 27.2 hours, while administrative andsecretarial employees received approximately11 hours. Most of the companies surveyedoffered both in-house and outside training withexecutives most likely to receive outside train-ing and lower level employees most likely toreceive in-house training. Only 31 percent ofthese companies engage in retraining of em-ployees, usually lower level employees.

In a survey of selected clients in Chicago,Price Waterhouse27 found that 42 percent of. - - . — -

“Training Budgets ’84: In the Pink—and the Green, ”Training, october 1984, pp. 16-31.

“’’’Training Magazine’s Industry Report, ” !ll-aining, Oc-tober 1984.

“Price Waterhouse Office Automation Survey, ” Chicago,1],, 1984,

these firms provide on-the-job training, mostoften with vendor prepared documentation.The figure went up to 64 percent for the smallerfirms surveyed. This agrees with the BLS sur-vey showing that 50 to 60 percent of workersgained qualifying skills on the job.

Temporary agencies anxious to increasetheir supply of trained workers are offeringword processing training to potential employ-ees, often by means of computer-aided instruc-tion and simulation. A standard for basic,intermediate, and advanced skills has been de-veloped by one agency .28 This standard re-quires that an operator with basic skills beable to—set up the system, keyboard, createdocuments, make minor corrections and proof,store and file text, recall/retrieve text, andprint text. Advanced operators should also beable to execute special software packages, de-velop graphics, write special programs, andsupervise other operators.

The Kelly surveys29 found in 1982 that 52percent of the companies surveyed developedtheir own training programs and 51 percent—.. — .-——

-“’Manpower-The Temp Agency–-Launches New Ap-proach to WP Training & Placement, ” Inside 14rord Process-ing, vol. 4, No. 6, June 1983.

“’The Kelly Report on People in the Electronic Office (Troy,MI: Kelly Services, Inc., 1982); The Kelly Report on Peoplein the h’lectronic Office 11: How Office 1$’orkers Triew A utoma-tion (Troy, MI: Kelly Services, Inc., 1983); and The Ke]l.v Re-port on Peop)e in the Electronic Offke /11 (Troy, M 1: Kell~Services, Inc., 1984).

&

phofo Credl( ManPower /nc

trained their own personnel. Fifty-one percentused a manufacturer-developed training pro-gram and 32 percent used the manufacturer’strainers. A 1983 survey showed that 34 per-cent of the nonmanagerial employees surveyedreceived their training from a vendor repre-sentative, 28 percent from a supervisor, 26 per-cent from a manual (self-trained), and 11 per-cent from an outside consultant or a class offthe premises.

Professionals and managers in offices arenot neglected in the market for office automa-tion training. Courses focusing on the upperlevel employees’ need for training are becom-ing common. Many professionals and man-agers learn such skills on the job, through theirown efforts, by means of a manual or by ‘‘justfooling around” with the machine. The avail-ability of simplified software in specific profes-sional fields is making it easier for the profes-sional to be self-taught, and new ways to getwork done are finding their way into manage-ment training curricula,

Data on the sources of training for currentjobs were developed by Carey and Eck at theBureau of Labor Statistics.’” Table 3-2 showsthat in 1983, 70 percent of computer systemsanalysts and scientists received training fortheir current jobs in a school, mostly 4-yearcolleges. Fifty-seven percent of secretaries,stenographers, and typists and 22 percent ofrecords clerks received school training. Seven-teen percent of all workers received qualify-ing training in 4-year (or more) college pro-grams. Professionals working in offices, suchas economists, statisticians, engineers, etc.,usually obtain their qualifying training in a4-year college. Business administrators andmanagers are also increasingly qualifying fortheir jobs through college education. Employersseem to be requiring higher qualifications formany jobs as a more highly educated workforce becomes available. This reduces oppor-tunities for less educated employees to bepromoted to higher level positions.

hlax Care} and A l a n F;ck, “HOW M’orkers (jet The i r Train-ing. ” occupational outlook Quarter?’. t’ol, 28. wint,er 1984,pp. 3-21.

Ch 3— Training and Education for Office Automation ● 8 3

Formal company training programs reached27 percent of computer systems analysts andscientists, 30 percent of operations and sys-tems researchers and analysts, 17 percent ofgeneral office supervisors, 25 percent of insur-ance adjusters, examiners, and investigators,but only 4 percent of secretaries. Informal on-the-job training was received by considerablylarger proportions of the occupations shownin table 3-1.

About 55 percent of a sample of all workersemployed in January 1983 indicated that, ac-cording to their own perceptions, they neededspecific training to qualify for their currentjobs. One-third of all workers had undertakenskill improvement (see table 3-3 for some typi-cal office-related occupations) since obtainingtheir current jobs.

Although only about 5 percent of all work-ers obtain training from high school vocationalprograms, a large proportion of these are of-fice workers. Thirty-five percent of secretarieshave received vocational training as have alarge proportion of computer systems pro-grammers and computer systems operators.Thirty-five percent of the 5.9 million enrolledin public vocational education in 1981 -8231

studied office trades, and 23 percent of adulteducation participants studied business-relatedcourses.” Business/office school enrollment in-creased 38.1 percent between 1975 and 1981,while vocational and technical schools and in-stitutes suffered decreasing enrollments dur-ing that time.

The Adequacy ofOffice Automation Training

A recent study” found that in the last 20years, the post-secondary education field wasable to accommodate quite well to changes indemand for its services. However, secondary

‘Occupational Projections and Training Data (~~’ashington.DC: U.S. Department of I,abor. Bureau of I.al)or Statistics,19X4). table c-l .

Digest of L’ducation Statistics, 198.3-84, op. cit.S u e Berr~’n~an, The .4djustn]ent of l’outh and l“.’duc:]-

tional Institutions to Tec’hn(jlogi(>till\ Generated (’hangps in.Skilf Requirements {J$-ashington, I)C: National (’omission forl~;mplo~’ment Polic?, Ala? 19851, p, 66.

8 4 Automation of Amer ica Offices—

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C/r, 3— Training and Education for Office Automatlon ● 8 5

Table 3-3.—Sources of Training for Skills Improvement AmongRepresentative Office-Related Occupations

Sources of trainlng (percentof occupatlonal employment)

vocational education in comprehensive schoolswas relatively unresponsive to changes in skillrequirements. This problem may be exacer-bated by declining enrollments and the needto delegate scarce resources to the academicstudies, for that there is greater demand inthese comprehensive schools. By contrast, pri-vate and public schools that focused on voca-tional education are more adaptable to changesin skill requirements in the labor market.

Although the adequacy of any training orretraining depends on the office, the job, andthe individual’s needs,pability, it is possible

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terms other factors influencing the quality oftraining. The quality is dependent on the qual-ity of the instructional materials and design,the quality and availability of instructors, andthe range of courses that are offered.

There is currently no legislation to regulate,assess, or accredit the content or the qualityof the courses offered in the private and com-mercial sectors. Those who invest in such train-ing are at the mercy of the market. This lackof quality control can be expensive and candrain the resources of individuals and organi-

commitment, and ca- zations.to discuss in general

EDUCATION FOR OFFICE AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES

Computers have assumed such an important find themselves pressed for expanding the cur-function in the contemporary practice of busi- riculum:ness, industry, science, and scholarship thatalmost no student can expect to remain iso- ●

Iated from these tools. This imposes on edu-cation the additional task of preparing stu-dents for jobs in which they will use thecomputer as a partner.34 Schools and colleges

●

‘C-harles ‘~lossman, ,4ssociate Vice P res iden t , AcademicResource I]lanning, California State [Jni\ersit~. Fullerton, injoint hearings hefore the L]. S. C’ongr-ess, I louse, InformationTechnology in F;ducation, Apr. 2-3, 1980, p. 145

by s tudents– many of whom expectschools to provide them with access tocomputing and instruction in computer-related subjects, and

by the job market-because employers ex-pect applicants to have some basic com-puter literacy before they arrive on thejob.

86 ● Automation of America’s Offices—

According to a recent national study, com-puters in high schools are used two-thirds ofthe time to teach children how to use a com-puter (“computer literacy”), and 18 percentof the time for drills and practice in varioussubject matter. Results of a survey of 1,082elementary and secondary schools, conductedby the Center for the Social Organization ofSchools, the Johns Hopkins University, areshown in figure 3-1. It appears that relativelylittle is being done to exploit the computer’spotential for teaching traditional subject mat-ter in a more efficient, interesting, or effec-tive manner. Also, time is not spent on thecomputer to teach and develop office automa-tion skills for future jobs.

Computer-assisted instruction (CAI)–thecomputer as teacher— has been introduced toimprove the delivery and productivity of gen-eral education. CAI has been found to reduceby 10 to 30 percent the amount of time stu-dents need to master a subject.35 CAI supple-ments the teachers’ efforts in the traditionalclassroom setting and provides specialized in-dividual instruction.

“’Education Turnkey Systems, Inc., “Uses of Computers inEducation, ” prepared for the National Commission for Em-ployment Policy, April 1985, p. 42

Figure 3-1 .—The Use of Computers in Elementaryand Secondary School Education

70 r 6A

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 LLiteracy

40

[Drill

18

L

24

—G a m e s Other

Functions

❑ Elementary = Secondary

SOURCE Flqure derived from School Uses of Microcomputers ReDortsFr~m a National Survey (working paper) Center for Social Organlzatlon of Schools The Johns Hopktns Unlverslty No 2, June 1983

The effectiveness of CA I is hindered by thelack of high-quality software. The EducationalProducts Information Exchange Institute, incooperation with the Consumer Union, evalu-ated 600 pieces of educational software in 1984and rated only 5 percent of what was exam-ined, or 30 programs, as “first-rate.”36

It takes about 200 person-hours to create1 hour of conventional CAI. Work is being doneat the Advanced Computer Tutoring Project,Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Penn-sylvania, to reduce the time required to de-velop CAI.37 Attempts are also being madeto develop intelligent CAI, or ICAI, which al-lows for conceptual modeling and interactiveinstruction.

Computer-managed instruction (CMI) is anautomated technology used for the manage-ment of the school system and for managingthe instructional flow in the classroom. It aidsboth the teacher and student by providing pre-and post-tests to evaluate advances in learn-ing levels, offering diagnostics, helping stu-dents with assignments, and keeping studentrecords. The teacher need not be present forall testing, assigning, and recordkeeping. Cog-nitive diagnostics for learners can also be pro-vided by computer programs.

The hardware available for educational usesand teaching office automation skills has fo-cused on using microcomputers. Video disksin the future may play an important role be-cause they allow for greater interaction in in-struction by simulating actual situations. Al-though information on educational software,evaluations, and availability is published, theprice of these analyses limits access to thisinformation for many educators. Most schooldistricts lack the means to identify better soft-ware, and in most schools only a handful ofteachers have the training to make effectiveuse of computers.38

‘hEdward B. Fiske, “Computers, In Most Schools, HaveBrought No Revolution, ” /Vew York Times, Dec. 9, 1984, p. 80.

‘“John R. Anderson, C. Franklin Boyle, and Brian J. Reiser,“Intelligent Tutoring Systems, ” Science, Apr. 26, 1985, p. 228.

‘“Fiske, op. cit., p. 1.

Ch. 3—Training and Education for Office Automation ● 8 7

Teachers and Computers

The proportion of college freshmen choos-ing education as a major has declined from22 percent in 1966 to 4.7 percent in 1982,39

because of the job disincentives common tothe teaching profession (low status, low pay,low-advancement opportunity, and diminishedpsychic income). Teachers are being pursuedby industry to fill training positions and theyare finding these jobs more rewarding thanteaching.

The difficulties of competing for manpowerand other resources in a rapidly growing high-technology market are acutely felt by educa-tors at the university level. Over the decadefrom 1970-71 to 1981-82, B.A. degrees in thecomputer sciences increased from 2,388 to20,267, nearly 750 percent. Yet a large por-tion of faculty positions are unfilled and thenumber of Ph. D.s graduating each year hasdropped substantially. The shortage of facultyin the field of engineering and computer sciencehas been attributed to the fact that industry,by offering higher salaries and other incen-tives, has been able to draw academics andstudents away from universities.40 The percent-age of computer science faculty leaving for in-dustry is twice that of any other field of engi-neering.

Curriculum Development

Efforts have begun to update curricula andinclude more courses in the use of computers,but office automation and other technology-related subjects are caught in the lag betweenneed, development, and implementation of newcurricula. This is especially obvious at the sec-ondary and post-secondary levels of education,where these skills are most often learned.

The rapid pace of technological change hascomplicated the delivery of appropriate courses.In a report on office automation productiv-

“Center for Strategic and international Studies, 7’ec/micalExcellence in America: Incentives for Investment in HumanCapital, Debra van Opstal (cd. ) (Washington, DC: GeorgetownUniversity, October 1984), p, 1.

“’U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Edu-cational Statistics, Condition of Education, 1984, table 2-12.

ity,4’ Russell Aldrich of Apple Computer, whoteaches at Golden Gate University in SanFrancisco, says that:

Many times, a particular course was a goodcourse, and a required course 5 to 10 yearsago. But because technology is progressingrapidly, we are seeing so large a revolution incertain areas of office productivity, communi-cations process, and management roles, thatwhat was on the frontier 2 years ago is nolonger relevant today. What is lacking is amechanism for higher education institutionsto quickly and accurately evaluate the infor-mation industry pulse so that it can designand plan curriculum that anticipates educa-tiomd needs and fills to them.42 (Emphasis added.)

The Office Systems Research Association(OSRA), in a cooperative effort between edu-cators and business sector representatives, isworking to develop a model curriculum in officesystems for universities and colleges. “Officesystems’ is defined as the business functionrelated to the coordination and managementof the information resources of an organiza-tion. Generally, this includes responsibilitiesfor automated and manual office equipment,human factors, and office procedures. Accord-ing to OSRA, managers in the office systemsarea are responsible for a business unit toocomplex to rely strictly on a computer back-ground or management techniques applicableto the traditional office environment. The Of-fice Systems Model Curriculum Project wasbegun in 1984 and is aimed at providing aframework, and possible standardization, ofoffice systems curricula for all schools. OSRAplans to have a draft of their model ready inmid-1 985.43

————.“Frank Freudberg, Office Automation Producti\’it~r: Lost

En Route to the Promised Land (V1’illow Gro\’e, PA: Associa-tion of Information Systems Professionals, 1984), p. 14.

‘-Freudberg, op. cit., p. 15.‘{This information is based on correspondence and conver-

sations with Bridget O’Connor, OSRA Vice President, Profes-sional Studies, Business Education Program, New York Uni\’er-sity, March 1985.

88 ● Automation of America Offices

Access to Education

To the extent that computer literacy andcomputer expertise are needed for success ingetting and keeping jobs, inequities in receiv-ing computer experiences in school are espe-cially serious for low-income, female, and ru-ral students. They translate into social andeconomic inequities by giving some peoplemore effective tools for working and living inan age of information technologies than others.

acy associated with wealth of the school, com-munity size, region, gender, and race.

Student enrollment in computer program-ming is much lower in schools that qualify forTitle I assistance (by having a large percent-age of the parents with income below the pov-erty line) than in schools that do not qualify.After a survey of schools in 1983, Quality Edu-cation Data, Inc., reports that the 12,000 wealthi-est schools are four times as likely to havemicrocomputers as are the 12,000 poorestschools. Rural and disadvantaged urban com-munities provide computer learning opportu-nities at a much lower rate than other com-munities.45 Among students at age 13, lessthan 17 percent of the rural/ghetto students,but 32 percent of those living in “urban/rich”areas, reported use of computers in schools.Eighteen percent of junior high school stu-dents in small towns report school computeruse, compared with 26 percent in large cities.

Each year the National Assessment of Edu-cational Progress (NAEP) surveys44 a strati-fied random sample of students aged 9, 13,and 17 in approximately 700 schools in theUnited States. Data from the 1982 surveyshow inequities in access to computer liter-

Students living in the South are much lesslikely to have used computers in schools thanstudents living in other parts of the country.Those in the Western States are twice as likelyas southern students to receive such expe-rience.

Young women in secondary schools are lesslikely than young men to spend time with com-puters and to enroll in computer classes.46 Fe-males are less likely to take computer program-ming classes than males; one study in 1983showed that 8 percent of the females and 14percent of the males have enrolled in program-ming courses for at least one semester. TheWomen’s Action Alliance of New York Cityhas devised several school-based strategies toovercome this problem, working with parentsand teachers to increase girls’ use of com-puters. The results after a year of trial at a

“ iThese and the following figures are based on the work ofRonald E. Anderson, Wayne W. Welch, and I.inda J. Harris,Computer Inequities in Opportunities for Computer Literacov,University of Minnesota, based on work supported by the Na-tional Science Foundation under grant SED 8022125Ao I, 1983,p. 4.

“As shown in studies by Anderson, Welch, and Harris, op.cit., 1983.

Ch 3—Training and Educat/on for Office AutomatIon ● 8 9

middle school in Wisconsin, showed a 42-per-cent increase in computer usage by girls.4T

While the NAEP data showed some racialinequity in computer exposure in 1978, morerecent results reveal no significant differencebetween black and white students when in-

come differences are equated. Apparent ineq-uity between black and white students in useof computers in schools and for enrollment incomputer programming courses is derivativeof income and rural/urban differences.

Inequities in computer access identified herepoint to the need for attention at all levels ofthe educational system: National, State, com-munity, district, school, and the classroom.

POLICY CONSIDERATIONSPolicies in Foreign Countries

In some countries, training and retrainingprograms are used as a basic instrument todeal with specific labor market problems. Thesuccesses and failures of foreign experiencesare rich in lessons for shaping U.S. policy.

The European and Japanese emphasis is onstrong vocational education as a basis for worklife and on periodic training to keep skills upto date. Their philosophy is that these pro-grams serve not only low-wage workers, buta broad segment of the primary labor force.48

However, the degree of government involve-ment differs among these countries.

In France, the Law for Continuous Train-ing, implemented in 1971, committed the gov-ernment to provide training opportunities toadults and youth. In Sweden, where workersare considered to have a right to training, thegovernment plays a strong role in adult train-ing and retraining. A close coordination amonggovernment, employers, and unions helps en-sure that government programs mesh wellwith national needs. The flexibility of the sys-tem in identifying new jobs and in retrainingworkers has reportedly added to the successin Sweden.

Union involvement and training vouchersencourage wide participation in West Germany;the government and private industry both play

‘“hlichael l)odgursk~’, I,ahor Jlarket l’olic~’ and StructuralAdjustment, paper prepared for the conference on [1. S, Indus-trial l’olic~’ and International Development, ()~rerseas I)e\’el-opment (’ouncil, \f’ashington, 1)(2, NI ar. 4, 19/+3, p. 17.

major roles. In Japan almost all efforts areby private companies. Japan continually retrainsselected workers in the “lifetime employmentsystem. Increasing “labor-market transpar-ency” or skill transferability, providing jobreferral, counseling, testing, training, and relo-cation assistance to workers, are regarded asa matter of high public interest and the publicemployment service plays a major role in labor-market adjustment policy in Europe and Ja-pan,”

Existing Legislation

This section will present a summary of leg-islation and regulations related to educationand training for automated office work andsome options for congressional consideration.

The potential for successful delivery of edu-cation for office automation skills and knowl-edge already exists in the traditional educationsystem, most often addressed at the secondaryand post-secondary level, where much of theFederal legislation is focused. Educational pol-icies and legislation set the framework for ad-dressing new and changing education needs.The higher education delivery system in theUnited States is a complex matrix of privateand public institutions that function with vary-ing degrees of independence and dependenceon State agencies. The Federal Governmentdirect role in institutional control has beenlimited to setting criteria for an institutionto participate in Federal programs or receive

‘Ibid. p. 26.

90 ● Automation of America’s Offices

Federal contracts. Various congressional ac-tions have been taken to draw attention toselected national problems, to provide the fis-cal resources needed to address these prob-lems, to support research activities that havenational and international implications, andto complement and supplement the role of par-ents and State and local governments in sup-porting individuals and institutions.

Although there is no existing Federal legis-lation specifically addressing office automa-tion education, there are related laws thatcould provide a vehicle for delivery of officeautomation education.

Direct Federal involvement in training andemployment programs is considered to havebegun with the Area Redevelopment Act (ARA)of 1961, although indirect Federal involvementin training through vocational education pro-grams began with the Smith-Hughes Act of1917. The Manpower Development and Train-ing Act (MDTA), enacted in 1962, focusedtraining efforts on workers displaced due toautomation. The Johnson Administration’swar on poverty brought about a wide rangeof work experience and training programs tar-geted on the poor, minorities, and youth. TheComprehensive Employment and Training Act(CETA), passed in 1973, absorbed many ex-isting work and training programs and wasdesigned to operate primarily at the local lev-el.50 CETA underwent amendments during itshistory that expanded its purpose and reach.The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) pro-gram reauthorized in 1981, also authorizedfunds for training. The Job Training Partner-ship Act (JTPA) replaced all portions of CETAon September 30, 1982. This new programshifted the focus away from direct Federal in-volvement in training programs and estab-lished a business-government partnership inthe provision of training for job skills. Train-ing programs are operated by the States incombination with local-area governments andPrivate Industry Councils (PICS) and provide

“’U.S. Congress, Library of Congress, Congressional Re-search Service, Job Training Programs: Reauthorization andFunding Issues, by Karen Spar, Issue Brief No. IB82005, Feb.8, 1982.

for the training of unemployed displaced work-ers in skills relevant to real employment op-portunities in the area. These programs werenot primarily aimed at office workers or at of-fice automation training.

Target groups for legislated training pro-grams have traditionally included about 8 per-cent of the population. These groups include—low-skilled adults (especially women and mi-norities), disadvantaged youth, and residentsof economically depressed areas. The gaps inpublic policy left by JTPA and similar pro-grams relate to: 1) the retraining needs of thelarge-middle tier of employed but at-risk work-ers; and 2) the basic skill needs of the 20 mil-lion or so functionally illiterate adults in thework force who will not be touched by reformsin elementary/secondary education, and whoselearning handicaps prevent them from bene-fiting from job-specific training.”

The Vocational Education Act (Perkins Act),as revised in 1984, provides focus on educa-tional needs at the secondary and post-sec-ondary school level. The Perkins Act grantsfunds to States to make vocational educationprograms accessible to all persons, but followsthe current trend of placing greater controland responsibility at the State and local levels.Targeted groups include:

● handicapped and disadvantaged persons,● single parents and homemakers,● adults in need of training and retraining, persons in programs designed to eliminate

sex bias and stereotyping in vocationaleducation, and

● persons incarcerated.

The act is designed to improve the qualityof vocational education programs in order togive the Nation’s work force the marketableskills needed to improve productivity and pro-mote economic growth. Under this act, the ac-quisition of office automation skills may beincluded in State programs for general voca-tional opportunities. Part E of Title III, “In-dustry-Education Partnership for Training inHigh-Technology Occupations, ” allows for

—.—.—“’Perelman, op cit., p. 27.

Ch. 3— Training and Education for Office Automation ● 91

grants to States to provide incentives for busi-ness and industry and the vocational educa-tion community to develop training programsfor high-technology equipment, systems, andprocesses. These programs are intended to beclosely tied to the local labor market and skillneeds.

The act states that to the maximum extentpracticable, funds will be utilized in coordina-tion with JTPA to avoid duplication of effortand to ensure maximum effective utilizationof funds under both acts. While the goals ofthe two acts are similar, the manner of achieve-ment is different. The focus of the Perkins Actis public vocational training and education,while the focus of JTPA is on industry-spon-sored training. The two acts overlap wherethere is the greatest need for assistance.

Funding for these programs is the key totheir success. However, the level of Federalfunding for employment and training decreasedby 49.7 percent between 1981 and 1984. Fund-ing for elementary, secondary, and vocationaleducation decreased by 8.9 percent during thatperiod. There were some increases for fiscalyear 1985— 17.5 percent for elementary, sec-ondary, and vocational education; and 14 per-cent for training and employment; but decreasesare again projected for fiscal years 1986 through1990 in training and employment functions.52

Federal aid to State and local governmentsfor vocational and adult education decreasedby less than one-half percent between 1981 and1984, but is projected to increase by 23.7 per-cent in 1986. Federal aid to State and localgovernments for employment and trainingservices was decreased by nearly 57 percentbetween 1981 and 1984, and is projected toincrease by only about 13 percent by 1990,with some fluctuations. If this trend continues,State implementation of this act will not beeffective. 53

The Employee Education Act amends theInternal Revenue Code to extend for 2 years

~:xecutive office of the President, Office of hlanagementand Budget, Historical Tables. Budget of the U..!. (;o~rernment,Fiscal Year 1986, tahle 3-3 (19) and (20), 1985.

I bid., table 12-3 (431 and (52).

the income tax exclusion for amounts receivedby an employee under a qualified employer pro-vided assistance program. Unless extended byCongress, this act will expire at the end of 1985.The act limits the exclusion to $5,000 of educa-tional assistance furnished to an individualduring a calendar year.

State and Local Practices

Typically, State funding and support of edu-cation has been related to economic develop-ment. Several private sector industries and re-search and development firms have recentlymoved toward more direct involvement withhigher education institutions by starting jointeducation ventures. While joint ventures areencouraged by some Federal laws, many busi-nesses have traditionally contracted locally fortraining and education programs for their em-ployees.

States have assumed a greater role duringthe past few years, as they enact student assis-tance programs to supplement declining Fed-eral support and shoulder the responsibilityof Federal programs. As State policy makershave been confronted simultaneously with rev-enue declines and requests for additional fundsfor higher education as well as for other hu-man resource investments, some have takenthe unpopular course of raising taxes to pro-vide additional support. Others have reducedreal levels of support for higher education ingeneral and for research universities in par-ticular. The funding pattern has been uniqueto each State.

Some States are making strong efforts tokeep up with the new teacher and curriculumneeds. For example, the State of Minnesotahas made new office automation skills and com-puter knowledge a high priority for vocationaleducation programs. Efforts are being madefirst to increase the competency of teachersthrough conferences and workshops on high-technology equipment, office systems, tele-communications, and curricula design. An in-tegrated office system has been installed forteachers’ hands-on experience. The system pro-vides administrative assistance for teachers.

92 ● Automation of America’s Offices

The State’s vocational program will also in-clude more opportunities for the adult andpart-time student communities.

Another example of State activity is inTexas, where “House Bill 246” will be imple-mented in all school districts in the 1985-86school year. This law mandates computer liter-acy courses for middle school (seventh andeighth grade) students and computer scienceclasses for all high school students, as require-ments for graduation. The computer literacycourse includes history, terminology, basic pro-gramming skills, and issues of computer usein the society. Computer-related course creditsare not required at the elementary school level,but many school districts are providing sometype of computer awareness at that level.

Policy Options

Federal actions that could encourage edu-cation and training opportunities related tooffice automation might include:

●

●

●

●

●

●

●

designate funds specifically for office au-tomation education programs throughnew legislation or existing vocational edu-cation legislation that provides aid toschools;increase funds for programs through ex-isting legislation (e.g., the Perkins Act);promote access for students in low-incomefamilies and in rural areas, and for women,through direct funding and establishmentof service programs;increase Federal attention to maintainingthe capacity and quality of research in theNation’s universities and the flow of newtalent into academia;provide career counseling, job guidanceprograms, job search assistance and train-ing programs that do not penalize thosereceiving unemployment insurance;encourage ties with the private sectorthrough cooperative educational efforts,curriculum development, and industry-based activities for office automationskills;establish support programs or tax creditsfor small businesses to ensure that the ed-

ucation of employees is adequate to main-tain current levels of employment andproductivity;provide training grants and tax creditsto businesses that incur expenses for of-fice automation training. Also provide in-centives to establish training programsin office automation skills, including em-ployment tax credits for employers whotrain and educate workers. Employerscould be given the same kind of tax write-offs for training that they get for plantmodernization;establish a program of Individual Train-ing Accounts (ITAs), similar to the Indi-vidual Retirement Accounts. The ITAmay require employers and employees tomake equal contributions to a bank ac-count; this money would not be taxed un-til withdrawn. The account could be drawnby employees to pay for retraining whenneeded. This would direct resources towardretraining needs of mainstream workersnow being neglected. A key objection tothis proposal is that workers may not beable to choose and direct their own retrain-ing in the best way, or appropriate pro-grams may not be available;expand the tax deductibility of trainingfor current and new occupations relatedto office automation;change unemployment regulations to per-mit receiving unemployment benefits dur-ing training. Encourage States to considerthose in training programs as still avail-able for work, and to reserve parts of theirState funds to establish permanent fundsfor retraining; andencourage union involvement in negotia-tions for skill training opportunities. In-clude requirements that firms give noticeof plant closings in advance and aid inthe retraining of displaced workers.

Congress may determine to take none of theabove actions, making the conscious choice topreserve the status quo. Since there is no ex-isting regulation of office automation train-ing, the training available commercially islikely to grow, but with existing inequities inaccess and quality unchecked.