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Work and the workplace play a central role in the new system of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). The design of NVQs makes the workplace the primary site of learning and assessment, and the developers of NVQs claim that it is an employment-led policy. This chapter takes the claim that NVQs are employment-led and driven by the requirements of the workplace and reflect the needs of employers as its starting point. Providing a research-based analysis, this chapter draws on evidence from a mixture of published material and original research collected during the course of a study on NVQs and the organisation of work in Britain. Material is taken from interviews conducted in 1993 with managers responsible for personnel and training issues in large and medium-sized enterprises. The chapter covers the implementation of the NVQs, vocational qualifications and the labour market, NVQs and the labour market, NVQs in the workplace and the use of vocational qualifications as a tool for political management.