Skills at Work

Training can be both structured (formal) and unstructured (informal). Although some data are available on the incidence of informal learning, national and international data collections are more likely to report formal learning activities. Any analysis of lifelong learning is therefore constrained by the limitations of the available data.

Rates of participation in education and training vary according to a person’s level of education, age, family responsibilities, and the skill level of their occupation. Employer-related characteristics that influence the training participation of individuals include whether the firm is in the public or private sector, firm size, and industry sector.

The benefits for individuals who undertake training include higher wages and increased likelihood of promotion. More highly skilled workers receive higher wages and working with new technologies appears to attract a wage premium.

Of the one-third of employers who provided structured training for their employees over a 12-month period, over 80 per cent did so to improve employee job performance and to improve the quality of their goods and services. Only one third of employers who funded training cited technological change as their primary motivation.

Small businesses are less likely to provide training for their employees than firms with 100 or more employees. However small businesses are also less likely to report any significant change in their operations over the previous 12 months including changes in their activity levels. When neither the scale of their operations nor the manner in which they undertake their business changes, it is not surprising that small firms provide fewer training opportunities for their employees.

After firm size and industry effects, the provision of training by employers increases in response to: competitive pressures; work re-organisation processes; the introduction of new technology; the introduction of quality and other restructuring processes; and decision-making taking place at lower levels within the organisation.

Research suggests that investment in training appears to be associated with higher levels of worker productivity in many industries.

Our analysis produced evidence that at least some aspects of the ‘new economy’ translate into additional training activity. The results suggest that employers provide training to individuals in low skilled sectors of the economy and focus provision of training on individuals who work in jobs subject to workplace change or who use ICT. Where employers tend to be of the view that their workforce is adequately trained, they provide less training.

Employees are about twice as likely to undertake training as employers (individuals who employ others or are self-employed). Most of the difference in training behaviour between employees and employers appears to reflect differences in their individual and job characteristics.

Overall, the measured effect of employer-based characteristics on employee training appears to reflect a pragmatic approach to training by businesses – they train when it is necessary (not where they consider their workforce adequately trained) and choose those who need it (workers who are affected by workplace change, work in low skill sectors of the economy or have high PC use). Employers’ views of what training is ‘necessary’ might be challenged and be subject to change, but they appear to be important determinants of who undertakes training courses in Australia.

Case studies of three industries – printing, hairdressing and libraries – suggest that generalisations about the changing nature of work do not necessarily apply to all industries. The development of information and communication technologies (ICT) has not had a uniform impact on the nature of work in all occupations. In hairdressing, for example, ICT has had little impact at all, other than to streamline management information systems – and this industry had experienced the least occupational change of the three case studies. In the printing industry and in libraries, in contrast, the rate and pace of ICT take-up has been high and this has had a significant impact on the nature of work.

ICT appears to change in the nature of work in the following ways:

• The diffusion of ICT has meant that certain aspects of traditional jobs can now be performed by clients themselves – at a low level. Examples are: pre-press work and photocopying (printing); and internet-based search engines and publications (librarians). In industries where this has occurred, traditional jobs have changed to become multi-skilled or to add more value in order to remain viable.
   
• Electronic technologies have facilitated the computerisation of certain aspects of the production process in libraries and printeries, rendering many trade skills and occupational duties obsolete. Examples include typesetters and engravers in the printing industry and circulation desk duties in libraries.
   
• Computerisation has increased the need for workers to possess basic clerical skills and computer skills.
   
• The boundaries of many occupations have become blurred.

A second factor influencing the nature of work is the development of new products and processes that are inputs into the production process. While some of these developments are based on new technology (ie. computerised printing presses and internet data bases), others are simply new products and processes developed by suppliers (such as hair dyes and hair treatment products). However the speed at which new products and processes are now developed means that workers must be adaptable and responsive to changes being introduced.

Third, the nature of work is influenced by changes in client demand. In the three industries studied, clients want products and services delivered in less time than in the past, and are more sophisticated in expressing their requirements. In some cases, it is likely that client demand could be an indirect effect of ICT-driven productivity growth in other industries.

The three industry case studies support the general observations in the literature about the implications of the changing nature of work for education and training while revealing that the impact of ICT has not been uniform across all industries and occupations.

Although the education and training requirements of all industries are not the same, the consistent themes emerging from this research are:

The observations from our three industry case studies are broadly consistent with other research findings, particularly Sheehan (1998) and Field and Mawer (1996). These studies point out that computerisation has increased productivity and has collapsed many aspects of the production process. So while some technical skills are still required, most occupations require workers to have: a broad underpinning knowledge of the production process; higher-level problem-solving or cognitive skills; and higher-level interpersonal or communication skills. Basic clerical and computer skills also appear to be a pre-requisite for most jobs.

These changes in the skills profile of occupations suggest some changes are needed in the content, role and emphasis of education and training provision. Directions for reform could include:

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