This paper presents and analyses results from a research project on current trends in employer training in Australia. While the formal vocational education and training (VET) system is well-researched, the everyday training that happens in workplaces is relatively under-researched in Australia. Using some of the results of an employer survey…

In today's rapidly changing society, the critical issues for organizations are how to attract individuals with high-level employability and what role to play in maintaining and enhancing that employability. This study primarily aimed to investigate the effects of leader-member exchange and employee learning on perceived employability. The…

The experience of developed countries--particularly member-states of the OECD--has shown that employers are actively investing in developing the human capital of their employees. According to research conducted by the World Bank, more than half of the companies in developed countries provide their employees with training in one form or another.…

This paper explores trade union collective voice as a mechanism for worker participation in training decision making. New Zealand is an example of a liberal market economy (LME) with relatively weak regulatory pressure on employers to engage in training. Consequently, drivers such as trade union collective voice could fill an important role in…

This paper discusses the scope of the employee's voice in lifelong education decisions, with a focus on qualified assembly-line workers and professional development schemes allowing their upward mobility out of the assembly line. Using a capability approach, it investigates voice as part of people's agency. Beyond examining the channels that allow…

Despite the ambition of an employer-led vocational education and training system, a lack of employer engagement in workplace training continues to be reported in England. There seems to be a mismatch between national policy level expectations of how employers should be engaging in workplace training and the practicalities of employer engagement at…

The overall objective of this paper is to determine, through a qualitative case study of the Dutch sectoral training system, factors associated with successful employer engagement. As well as examining the key features of the Dutch approach to vocational education and training (VET), the article makes a number of specific arguments: (1) employer…

Sectoral levelling funds are an arrangement aimed at alleviating a well-known theoretical problem of underinvestment in worker training because of free-rider behaviour of firms. In the Netherlands, collective agreements require firms to participate in such funds in a number of sectors. Using a comprehensive dataset of Dutch firms, we attempt to…

Surveys of British businesses over 12 years identified awareness, understanding, and implementation of National Vocational Qualifications/Scottish Vocational Qualifications. Despite high awareness, understanding was impaired by lack of information. The system has had limited impact on economic competitiveness and its value and significance to the…

Responses from 97 of 500 British employers identified minimum and preferred qualifications for new employees. A substantial number specified no minimum level. Most do not value National Vocational Qualifications and favor academic qualifications for higher-status occupations. Those who specified minimum qualifications were more likely to train…