Although plant closings and layoffs have been happening for a long time, today's recessions, major changes in the structure of the economy, and a tight job market have combined to make plant closings a more serious problem. Workers are faced with unemployment from both traditional labor-displacing changes, such as the increasing use of robotics; and from unprecedented structural shifts in the economy, such as changes in consumer demand, technology, energy costs, skill requirements, and government policies. Since 1970, almost a million manufacturing jobs have been lost in the automotive, rubber, steel, and other industries in the Northeast and Midwest. Many of these displaced workers will require retraining if they are to find real jobs. On one hand, retraining efforts face the barriers of the lack of resources, capacity, and commitment to make retraining available to mainstream employees in periods of economic recessions and high unemployment intervals in a peace-time economy. On the other hand, the United States has expanded its vocational-technical schools and colleges to the point that they can respond in a significant way to mass layoffs caused by plant reductions and closures. Area schools and community colleges have the staff, facilities, and administrative experience to provide high-quality, job-oriented training that can be tailored to suit the needs of displaced workers. A stronger partnership between industry, labor, and public education institutions will enable them to pool resources and provide flexible, responsive, and cost-effective retraining programs. (KC)