Labor Secretary Lays Plans Against Work Force Crisis

WASHINGTON — Warning of a national work force crisis, Labor Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole announced plans today for a commission, an advisory board, a conference, a clearinghouse, a volunteer network and an awards program seeking to better prepare American workers.

In her annual state of the work force address, Dole said the products of these efforts would include national competency guidelines for workers and an accreditation program for employees in service industries.

“America faces a work force crisis. Simply put, America’s work force is in a state of unreadiness--unready for the new jobs, unready for the new realities, unready for the new challenges of the ‘90s,” Dole said.

“The assembly-line jobs that once required only hand-eye coordination are headed the way of the dinosaurs,” she told a gathering of state teachers and principals of the year.

“Over half the jobs in our economy will soon require education beyond high school,” she said.