The American economy is in a state of flux; it will probably generate more displaced workers; and it has yet to determine a policy to assist such workers in preparing for and locating new jobs. Although the extent of the problem is not entirely known, a low estimate is that some 2.2 million workers may have been affected by plant closings and mass layoffs between 1975 and 1981. Most often, the typical dislocated worker is male, semiskilled, older, less educated, and with some years' seniority and earning a relatively good wage. The United States has a variety of labor market service programs. Among these are the Comprehensive Employment and Trainining Act (CETA), which is targeted to the disadvantaged and thus not available to help most displaced workers; CETA Private Industry Councils; local management and labor groups; state vocational retraining programs; and other federally, locally, or privately funded programs that appear sporadically. An approach to helping displaced workers that has been successful in Canada is the Canadian Manpower Consultative Service (MCS), which is characterized by lack of bureaucracy; temporary composition for a specific plant in a specific locale;; cooperation between labor, management, and government; and an entrepreneurial spirit. (A case study of a plant layoff in which workers were aided through MCS is included in this report.) To assist dislocated workers, the United States should develop programs with the following key features: a private industry-public body partnership, a local base, flexibility, use of existing resources, non-bureaucratic structures, and a modest start to be followed by building on successes. (KC)