Since the early 1970s, vocational-technical (VT) activities in Italy have primarily been under regional management. Principal activities covered by VT are basic vocational training, further vocational training, retraining, and training for the unemployed. The Regions also have responsibility for the training of apprentices. The VT user population includes 53 percent of young people aged 15 to 19, more than 60 percent of young people at secondary school, and almost 65 percent of those in employment via apprenticeships. Trainers involved in VT activities aimed at placement in first jobs are the teaching staff of vocational colleges and technical colleges, the teaching staff of vocational training centers, and operators working in inservice training centers. Each group is characterized by a high degree of diversity in both quantitative and qualitative terms. They also display variations from an institutional point of view, in respect to training, recruitment, and qualifications. In the future, VT activities will be affected by changes linked to technological advances, changes in working organization (and hence in job structures), and changes in the organization of education and training. The trainer's role will also be redefined and changes will occur in initial training, recruitment, the acquisition of skills, and refresher courses. (YLB)