A major problem facing employers today is the skills gap. In the United States, the skills gap is the result of at least three factors. The first it the skill level achieved by many high school and college graduates. As the number of racial minorities in the U.S. labor market continues to grow, many of these new workers will be immigrants who lack proficiency in English, and who also may lack basic skills.

The increased sophistication of jobs, particularly as a result of the information technology explosion, affects almost every industry. The trend toward increasingly powerful computer technology and software systems has led to a proliferation of high-technology applications, including robotics, decision-support systems, e-mail systems, and communications networks. Continuous technical training will likely be necessary for those occupations that rely on information technology.