According to research from the Department for Work and Pensions, workers in large organisations and those with higher qualifications were also more likely to have received training and it seems to be more prevalent among higher earners and those relatively new to the job, which is linked to the provision of induction.
The report does find that undergoing training does have a small effect on wages and that there are also increases in the rate of retention and moving into paid work. However, the incidence of training appears to be falling (which may be reflecting higher unemployment), except among older workers.
The proportion of workers aged 16-69 in training rose from about 20% in 1994 to approximately 28% in 2003. This trend has been flat or on the decline since then, and particularly from 2005 onwards. This recent downward trend is found among virtually all groups. An important exception is older workers, aged 50 or above, who continue to enjoy increasing rates of training provision.
Hourly wage rates grew by 4.4% between the 2006 and 2007 British Household Planning Survey interviews for those respondents working at both waves of interviews. They grew by 5%, where a respondent had received some training, and by 4% otherwise. The rate of growth was higher where training was received, irrespective of the level of wages in 2006. The highest increases in hourly earnings between 2006 and 2007 were achieved by young people, those aged between 16 and 34, and especially those at the lower end of this age range.
For most age groups, except those under aged 20, the rate of wage increase was raised if they had undergone a period of training.
Those who received training, compared with those who had not, showed greater variability in job satisfaction. That is, where a person had received training, they were both more likely to report an increase in job satisfaction, and more likely to report decreased job satisfaction. By contrast, there was greater stability in the reported levels of job satisfaction among those who did not receive training.
The DWP commissioned The University of Birmingham to undertake research to help it understand the link between training and changes in employment characteristics (especially wages).
The research seeks to identify who undertakes training and how progression, retention and advancement differ between and within key groups, what are the benefits deriving from government-funded and privately-funded training and lifelong learning, and the relationship between undertaking training on the one hand and gaining, retaining and advancing in employment on the other.
The report concerns the training that people receive while in work, or in anticipation of working in the future, and the effects it has on people’s careers.
