In the workplace of the 21st century, America's workers will need to be better educated to fill new jobs and more flexible to respond to the changing knowledge and skill requirements of existing jobs. Meeting the challenge of employment and training will call for the best efforts of stakeholders and new forms of cooperation and collaboration. With this responsibility comes enormous opportunity. Not only does a better educated and trained work force create significant productivity gains and better bottom line results for American employers, but the more a worker learns, the more a worker earns. Society is responding, and education and training are increasing. Business establishments report providing increased formal education; unions are increasing their commitment to work force education and training; enrollments at community colleges serving an older, employed student body are increasing; and the federal government has made education and training top priorities. Challenges are the cost and scheduling of training for workers; employers' costs for training and fear of losing trained workers; and ability of postsecondary institutions to offer affordable, convenient work-related training. (The final section profiles of 23 promising partnerships and programs around worker training and lifelong learning. Appendixes include 80 endnotes and a 33-item bibliography.) (YLB)