Retraining

Last updated

Retraining or refresher training is the process of learning a new or the same old skill or trade for the same group of personnel. Retraining is required[ by whom? ] to be provided on a regular basis to avoid personnel obsolescence due to technological changes and the individuals' memory capacity. This short-term instruction course shall serve to re-acquaint personnel with skills previously learnt (recall to retain the potentials) or to bring their knowledge or skills up-to-date (latest) so that skills stay sharp. This kind of training could be provided annually or more frequently as maybe required, based on the importance of consistency of the task of which the skill is involved. Examples of refreshers are cGMP, GDP, HSE trainings. Retraining (repetition of a training conducted earlier) shall also be conducted for an employee, when the employee is rated as ‘not qualified’ for a skill or knowledge, as determined based on the assessment of answers in the training questionnaire of the employee.

Contents

Affected people

These Syrian refugees and local Lebanese women are being retrained to make fishing nets. Netting a trade and an income in northern Lebanon (11173964734).jpg
These Syrian refugees and local Lebanese women are being retrained to make fishing nets.

The need to retrain workers is often thought to apply to older members of the workforce, many of whom saw their occupations disappear and their skills lose value as technology, outsourcing and a weak economy combined to erode their ability to make a living. While older Americans do not face as high a rate of unemployment as the country’s teenagers and young adults, when they do find themselves unemployed, they remain unemployed for more than twice as long as teenagers. [1]

While the stereotype for retraining needs is the older worker, youth in the United States and across the European Community (OECD) and Africa suffer from the same problem. The gap between the skills they possess and those that employers are actively seeking is significant and stagnating to their employment prospects. Currently in the United States, psychology, history and the performing arts make up 22% of college degrees earned. Demand for skilled employees, however, is in the areas of technology and engineering, currently at 5% of conferred degrees. [2] “In both Britain and the United States, many people with expensive liberal arts degrees are finding it impossible to get decent jobs,” reports the Economist in its April 27, 2013 issue, [3] adding that in northern Africa, job applicants with degrees face an unemployment level twice that of non-degreed candidates.

While technology anxiety and a nervousness about learning new processes and acquiring new skill sets has impacted older workers, [4] younger job seekers are also facing a deficit of “applied soft skills” such as work ethic, social skills, communication and leadership. [5]

Policy issues

The need for greater partnership and transfer of information between institutions of higher education is essential in reducing the skills gap for old and young people alike. [3] Expanded internships, returnships, [6] and post-hiring training can help from the employers’ perspective [5] and upgraded and more authentic technical training will help close the gap on the side of educators. [3] The World Bank's 2019 World Development Report on the future of work [7] explains that flexible learning opportunities at universities and adult learning programs that allow workers to retrain and retool are vital in order for labor markets to adjust to the future of work.

There is some controversy surrounding the use of retraining to offset economic changes caused by free trade and automation. For example, most studies show that displaced factory workers in the United States on the average have lower wages after retraining to other positions when a factory is closed due to offshoring. A similar issue surrounds movement from technical jobs to liaison jobs due to offshore outsourcing. Such changes may also favor certain personality types over others, due to the changing tasks and skills required.[ citation needed ] Other research estimates that one academic year of such retraining at a community college increases the long-term earnings by about 8 percent for older males and by about 10 percent for older females. [8]

Government policy may make a difference in employability and motivation for retraining and re-entry into the workforce for older workers. In economies with greater regulations surrounding the hiring, termination and wages, reductions in unemployment were difficult to achieve. The very groups harmed by continued higher unemployment were those that the regulations sought to protect. [9]

Retraining is sometimes offered as part of workfare programs, which may include support for transportation, childcare, or an internship. [10]

Health effects of unemployment

As difficult and controversial as it may seem, retraining older and younger workers alike to prepare them to be part of a changing workforce will have a lasting impact on workers across the globe. Unemployed workers are at significantly greater risk for poor physical health, greater stress, alcoholism, marital problems and even suicide. [11] Among young workers, beginning their careers with extended bouts of joblessness results in lower overall earnings and more unemployment throughout their careers. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unemployment</span> People without work and actively seeking work

Unemployment, according to the OECD, is people above a specified age not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the reference period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Training</span> Acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of teaching or practice

Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. It forms the core of apprenticeships and provides the backbone of content at institutes of technology. In addition to the basic training required for a trade, occupation or profession, training may continue beyond initial competence to maintain, upgrade and update skills throughout working life. People within some professions and occupations may refer to this sort of training as professional development. Training also refers to the development of physical fitness related to a specific competence, such as sport, martial arts, military applications and some other occupations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Underemployment</span> Underutilization of workers talents or skills in employment

Underemployment is the underuse of a worker because a job does not use the worker's skills, is part-time, or leaves the worker idle. Examples include holding a part-time job despite desiring full-time work, and overqualification, in which the employee has education, experience, or skills beyond the requirements of the job.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discouraged worker</span> Person of legal employment age actively seeking employment

In economics, a discouraged worker is a person of legal employment age who is not actively seeking employment or who has not found employment after long-term unemployment, but who would prefer to be working. This is usually because an individual has given up looking, hence the term "discouraged".

Structural unemployment is a form of involuntary unemployment caused by a mismatch between the skills that workers in the economy can offer, and the skills demanded of workers by employers. Structural unemployment is often brought about by technological changes that make the job skills of many workers obsolete.

Job security is the probability that an individual will keep their job; a job with a high level of security is such that a person with the job would have a small chance of losing it. Many factors threaten job security: globalization, outsourcing, downsizing, recession, and new technology, to name a few.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labor market of Japan</span>

The labor force in Japan numbered 65.9 million people in 2010, which was 59.6% of the population of 15 years old and older, and amongst them, 62.57 million people were employed, whereas 3.34 million people were unemployed which made the unemployment rate 5.1%. The structure of Japan's labor market experienced gradual change in the late 1980s and continued this trend throughout the 1990s. The structure of the labor market is affected by: 1) shrinking population, 2) replacement of postwar baby boom generation, 3) increasing numbers of women in the labor force, and 4) workers' rising education level. Also, an increase in the number of foreign nationals in the labor force is foreseen.

Reserve army of labour is a concept in Karl Marx's critique of political economy. It refers to the unemployed and underemployed in capitalist society. It is synonymous with "industrial reserve army" or "relative surplus population", except that the unemployed can be defined as those actually looking for work and that the relative surplus population also includes people unable to work. The use of the word "army" refers to the workers being conscripted and regimented in the workplace in a hierarchy under the command or authority of the owners of capital.

Active labour market policies (ALMPs) are government programmes that intervene in the labour market to help the unemployed find work, but also for the underemployed and employees looking for better jobs. In contrast, passive labour market policies involve expenditures on unemployment benefits and early retirement. Historically, labour market policies have developed in response to both market failures and socially/politically unacceptable outcomes within the labor market. Labour market issues include, for instance, the imbalance between labour supply and demand, inadequate income support, shortages of skilled workers, or discrimination against disadvantaged workers.

Occupational inequality is the unequal treatment of people based on gender, sexuality, height, weight, accent, or race in the workplace. When researchers study trends in occupational inequality they usually focus on distribution or allocation pattern of groups across occupations, for example, the distribution of men compared to women in a certain occupation. Secondly, they focus on the link between occupation and income, for example, comparing the income of whites with blacks in the same occupation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Job guarantee</span> Economic policy proposal for full employment

A job guarantee is an economic policy proposal that aims to provide a sustainable solution to inflation and unemployment. Its aim is to create full employment and price stability by having the state promise to hire unemployed workers as an employer of last resort (ELR).

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) is the administrative department of the Ohio state government responsible for supervising the state's public assistance, workforce development, unemployment compensation, child and adult protective services, adoption, child care, and child support programs. Prior to July 2013, ODJFS was also the state agency responsible for the administration of Ohio's Medicaid program. In July 2013, a new state agency was created, the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM), Ohio’s first Executive-level Medicaid agency. ODJFS employs about 2,300 full time employees and has an annual budget of $3.3 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Workforce Commission</span>

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Texas that provides unemployment benefits and services related to employment to eligible individuals and businesses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Youth unemployment</span> Situation of young people who are willing to work but unable to find a job

Youth unemployment is the situation of young people who are looking for a job but cannot find a job, with the age range being defined by the United Nations as 15–24 years old. An unemployed person is defined as someone who does not have a job but is actively seeking one. To be qualified as unemployed for official and statistical measurement, the individual must be without employment, willing and able to work, of the officially designated "working age" and actively searching for a position. Youth unemployment rates tend to be higher than adult rates in every country in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unemployment in Poland</span> Overview of unemployment in Poland

Unemployment in Poland appeared in the 19th century during industrialization, and was particularly severe during the Great Depression. Under communist rule Poland officially had close to full employment, although hidden unemployment existed. After Poland's transition to a market economy the unemployment rate sharply increased, peaking at above 16% in 1993, then dropped afterwards, but remained well above pre-1993 levels. Another period of high unemployment occurred in the early 2000s when the rate reached 20%. As Poland entered the European Union (EU) and its job market in 2004, the high unemployment set off a wave of emigration, and as a result domestic unemployment started a downward trend that continued until the onset of the 2008 Great Recession. Recent years have seen an increase in the unemployment rate from below 8% to above 10% (Eurostat) or from below 10% to 13% (GUS). The rate began dropping again in late 2013. Polish government (GUS) reported 9.6% registered unemployment in November 2015, while European Union's Eurostat gave 7.2%. According to Eurostat data, since 2008, unemployment in Poland has been constantly below the EU average. Significant regional differences in the unemployment rate exist across Poland.

As the unemployed according to the art. 2 of the Ukrainian Law on Employment of Population are qualified citizens capable of work and of employable age, who, due to lack of a job, do not have any income or other earnings laid down by the law and are registered in the State Employment Center as looking for work, ready and able to start working. This definition also includes persons with disabilities who have not attained retirement age and are registered as seeking employment.

Job creation and unemployment are affected by factors such as aggregate demand, global competition, education, automation, and demographics. These factors can affect the number of workers, the duration of unemployment, and wage rates.

TVET refers to all forms and levels of education and training which provide knowledge and skills related to occupations in various sectors of economic and social life through formal, non-formal and informal learning methods in both school-based and work-based learning contexts. To achieve its aims and purposes, TVET focuses on the learning and mastery of specialized techniques and the scientific principles underlying those techniques, as well as general knowledge, skills and values.

Unemployment in Hungary measured by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office shows the rate of unemployed individuals out of the labor force. The European Union's own statistical office, Eurostat also makes reports and predictions about the Hungarian job market and the unemployment rate in the country. The KSH's most recent unemployment data shows the unemployment rate for men 15–74 to be 3.3% and 4.1% for women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unemployment in South Korea</span> Overview of unemployment in South Korea

The unemployment rate in the Republic of Korea as of December 2021 is 3.7 percent. Since its rapid globalization and democratization, the unemployment rate has been comparatively low compared to most OECD countries. This remains the case as of 2021. Being Asia’s fourth-largest economy, the country's booming exports have helped to maintain the unemployment rate very low by the standards of developed countries. There are several measurement differences between the standard of measurement set by the International Labour Organisation and the official measurement of unemployment in the Republic of Korea, set by Statistics Korea, that contribute to an inflated unemployment rate when compared to other countries that abide more strictly by the standard set by the International Labour Organisation.

References

  1. ↑ Rampell, C. (2013, Feb. 2). In Hard Economy for All Ages, Older Isn’t Better ... It’s Brutal. NY Times Digital Edition. Retrieved April 30, 2013 from https://www.nytimes.com.
  2. ↑ FREIFELD, L. (2013). Bridging the Skills Gap. Training, 50(2), 18-21
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Work and the young: Generation jobless". The Economist. 2013-04-27. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  4. ↑ Hollis-Sawyer, L. (2011). A Math-Related Decrement Stereotype Threat Reaction Among Older Nontraditional College Learners. Educational Gerontology, 37(4), 292-306. doi:10.1080/03601271003608845
  5. 1 2 Buhler, P. M. (2012). the skills gap: how organizations can respond effectively. Supervision, 73(12), 23.
  6. ↑ Koba, Mark (October 14, 2013). "Returnship for Older Workers: Proceed with Caution". CNBC.com.
  7. ↑ World Bank World Development Report 2019: The Changing Nature of Work.
  8. ↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, "Should We Teach Old Dogs New Tricks? The Impact of Community College Retraining on Older Displaced Workers," November 2003
  9. ↑ Serban, A.C. (2012). A Better Employability Through Labour Market Flexibility. The Case of Romania. Procedia - Social And Behavioral Sciences, 46(4th World Conference on Educational Sciences (WCES-2012) 02-05 February 2012 Barcelona, Spain), 4539-4543. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.292
  10. ↑ "On-The-Job Training While Unemployed". NPR.org. NPR. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  11. ↑ Wisman, J. D. (2010). The Moral Imperative and Social Rationality of Government-Guaranteed Employment and Reskilling.Review Of Social Economy, 68(1), 35-67. doi:10.1080/00346760902968405
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.