This document reports a study designed to identify the factors that facilitate or impede training in South Africa, based on data collected in interviews and by a questionnaire mailed to 4,500 employers (from whom 659 usable responses were received). The study was conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council/National Training Board (HSRC/NIB). Chapter 1 describes the study's background and methodology. Chapter 2 examines the role of the state in the development of skills training, covering the development of labor legislation from 1850. Chapter 3 reports seven factors influencing skills training in agriculture, forestry, and fishing. Chapter 4 classifies the various industrial sectors, reports on their contributions to the gross national product, and describes trends regarding training in these sectors. Chapter 5 describes how unemployed persons and others seeking jobs are trained. Chapter 6 examines the training needs of small businesses. Chapter 7 reports on factors that facilitate or inhibit skills training. Chapter 8 considers the costs, benefits, and financing of skills training. Chapter 9 examines research into the structures for skills training, noting that the research covered three areas, namely: (1) the philosophy underlying the necessity for structures for optimizing training; (2) a comparative study of structures in other countries; and (3) an analysis of the present structures and their influence on skills in South Africa. Finally, chapter 10 offers recommendations based on the research. Six appendices contain training matrices, a list of rebate courses, a field worker's manual for small enterprises, a copy of the initial questionnaire sent to employers, a questionnaire on the structures for skills training, and International Labour Organisation Recommendation No. 150 concerning vocational guidance and training in the development of human resources. (CML)