California IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : State Job Training System Criticized

A legislative report said California’s 22 publicly financed job training programs are hampered by lack of coordination and overlapping functions and strategies. By the year 2000, nearly 90% of newcomers to the United States and California work forces will be Asians, Latinos, blacks, women returning to work or immigrants, but the state has no coordinated or comprehensive training system, the Assembly Office of Research found. California’s work force is aging, the number of entrants is shrinking and its composition is radically changing while the demand for labor is outstripping the number of qualified workers, the report found. It recommended forming a panel to explore ways of improving the system and creating a state department of employment and job training.