Worker training: A review, critique, and extension

Why does employee training in the US lag behind that of our industrial counterparts? We provide an overview of employee training in the US and a review of American employee training literature and concepts. Our criticism of this literature is based on its limited conceptual structure that derives from an over-reliance on the distinction between “general” versus “specific” training. We find this dichotomy to be both empirically and theoretically imprecise. We also provide a brief overview of employee training in other industrialized nations. In combination, the critique of the American literature and the review of the international literature provide a framework for suggesting new approaches to training and its study in the United States. We argue that such a new approach is needed both to understand employee training in the US and to provide an empirical framework for guiding its growth and development.