Continuing vocational training: not a bad record

Continuing vocational training: not a bad record

The first Eurostat survey on continuing vocational training (CVT) in the CEEC shows that, in 1999, on average 43% of companies introduced CVT courses, compared with more than 70% in 11 countries of Western Europe (EU11). A similar gap appears in terms of the number of employees who have attended them, as well as in terms of expenditure allocated to CVT. They represent 2% of total employment costs in the EU11, compared with 1.2% in the 9 CEEC studied. According to these criteria, only the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Estonia come anywhere near the European average in its widest sense; whilst Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Lithuania are lagging behind.

As in the EU, CVT in the CEEC is more widespread in large companies. But the difference between small and large companies is more marked in the candidate countries. Even if more than 70% of the companies which have not introduced CVT declare that that the present skills of their employees are sufficient for their needs, this difference indicates a probable weakening of SMEs in these countries in terms of know-how and future competitiveness.

With tension already occurring in the labour markets of certain regions (namely in the capital cities and in those countries with an EU border) and not very dynamic demographies, it is important for an investor to note that training costs remain low compared to those in Western Europe: 226 SPA per employee on average as against 746. In the CEEC direct costs account for from 50% (Romania) to 70% (Estonia) of the total cost.

Since governments in the region regard improving their work force’s qualifications as a priority, training is subsidized**. In the Czech Republic, for example, in certain circumstances the government finances up to 35% of these costs; in Poland, it contributes a fixed amount, i.e. 1.150 per employee ; in Romania, the government undertakes to find employees who meet the investors’ requirements.

For more analyses see the

enlargement website of DREE.