In the absence of Federal job initiatives, over 14 million people cannot find full or part-time work. According to a report issued by the Full Employment Action Council and the National Committee for Full Employment, they are casualties of shifts in the economy and of deficit spending that favors the affluent and the military over the poor and the jobless. Although some Federal support programs still exist, the Reagan Administration continues to seek to reduce and terminate key social programs. Federal job creation programs have been useful and effective in two ways: (1) in assisting the structurally unemployed to increase their earnings, maintain a permanent connection to the labor force, and bolster skills and work experience; and (2) as providers of useful community services and work in periods of economic hardship and high unemployment. To take up the slack of shrinking Federal initiatives, some states and local communities have designed effective employability programs. Their basic components are: specific targetting of the population in need; tailored service strategies; initiation and administration by a diversity of community leaders; and funding garnered from a multiplicity of sources. This paper concludes with case studies of three effective programs aimed at each of the three groups in greatest need (youth, hard-to-employ adults, and dislocated workers). Appendices provide unemployment statistics, an explanation of how jobless rates are determined, a brief overview of the Job Training Partnership Act, and policy recommendations. (KH)