Duygu Güner: “Ignoring the hidden barriers behind low training participation is no longer an option”

In her Speakers’ Corner column, economist Duygu Güner describes the past year as being marked by an enthusiastic discussion on skills shortages and the imperative of continuous reskilling/upskilling efforts in the EU. Nevertheless, determining how to increase low training participation rates remains the main challenge. Speakers’ Corner columns are produced in cooperation with EAEA, the European Association for the Education of Adults.

Labour markets are undergoing significant transformations due to new technologies as well as demographic and environmental shifts. Emerging technologies are reshaping the very nature of work, impacting both the types of jobs available and the skills required for them.

This transformation results in a substantial mismatch between skills supply and demand, prompting a significant policy emphasis on reskilling and upskilling efforts. This led to the announcement of the past year, from 9 May 2023 to 8 May 2024, as the European Year of Skills.

Commissioner Nicolas Schmit aptly described the European Year of Skills as a catalyst for the necessary skills revolution in Europe, a sentiment with which I wholeheartedly agree.

Indeed, the European Year of Skills has had the potential to go beyond simply celebrating skills development. The year has presented a unique opportunity to foster a more inclusive society, as all stakeholders unanimously acknowledged the critical importance and urgency of investing in skills.

With appropriate policy measures, skill shortages may become the spark that leads to social mobility, inclusion and diversity.

From the perspective of workers, the importance of skills is readily apparent; having the right set of skills can significantly improve one’s job prospects, career trajectory, job security, and earning potential. For employers, maintaining a skilled workforce is essential for sustaining competitiveness, fostering innovation and improving the quality of products or services.

From a societal standpoint, a sufficiently skilled workforce and an economy free from labour shortages undoubtedly contribute to economic growth. Nevertheless, the significance of skills extends beyond mere economic considerations.

EDUCATION HAS ALWAYS BEEN seen as a means for social mobility. However, not everyone has had access to educational opportunities. Today, as companies increasingly grapple with skill shortages, they are shifting toward hiring practices that prioritise skills over formal degrees.

This paradigm shift presents an unexpected opportunity for marginalised groups who may have lacked access to quality formal education. Through reskilling/upskilling, we have the chance to unlock pathways for individuals from diverse backgrounds to access higher-paying jobs, enhance their living standards and achieve upward mobility.

To capitalise on this opportunity, it is essential to ensure that reskilling/upskilling opportunities are equally available to all demographic groups. However, data from the 2022 Adult Education Survey (AES) indicates that training participation in the EU varies significantly among socioeconomic groups. While there are no significant differences in terms of gender, in every other dimension we observe that more vulnerable groups have lower training participation levels. (1)

Inequalities in access to formal education are simply mirrored in access to training.

Needless to say, unless adequately addressed, this asymmetrical training participation poses a significant risk of further marginalising those who are already weakly attached to the labour market, if attached at all, or those who are already in a vulnerable situation.

IN 2022, ONLY 46.6% of individuals aged 25 to 64 engaged in any form of formal or non-formal training, an increase of less than three percentage points since the previous wave of the AES in 2016 (43.7%).

The Covid-19 pandemic considerably lowered training participation in the EU, but even if the training participation were to return to its pre-pandemic trajectory, only 54.5% of adults would be participating in training by 2030. This rate falls significantly short of the 60 percent training participation target set by the Commission.

While the usual suspects such as lack of time and money are common barriers to training participation, data shows that low training participation is primarily driven by a lack of willingness to participate in training in the first place (42%). Irrespective of their education level, a majority of people (32%) do not foresee the necessity for reskilling/upskilling.

While there is significant cross-country variation in training participation (ranging from 16% in Greece to 67% in Sweden), there is substantial lack of anticipation for training needs in nearly all EU member states. The Netherlands stands out as the sole exception to this trend, where only 8.7% of individuals indicate that they do not need to reskill/upskill.

To the best of my knowledge, the widespread lack of interest in training participation was first documented in the 2003 Eurobarometer Survey and, despite extensive policy effort, has persisted for decades. However, the underlying reasons behind this low anticipated need remain poorly understood.

To genuinely nurture a learning culture, we need to open the black box and gain a deeper understanding of why people are reluctant to engage in training. Ignoring the psychological, social and institutional barriers involved is no longer an option. Otherwise, we risk further marginalising the 70 million individuals with low levels of education, who are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impact of the ongoing labour market transformations.

(1) The data comes from the 2022 Adult Education Survey (AES). Less than a quarter of individuals with lower levels of education engage in non-formal training, whereas for those with some tertiary education or higher, the proportion exceeds three in five. Moreover, workers in elementary occupations (30.1%) or skilled manual roles (35.6%) participate in non-formal training significantly less frequently than those in higher-skilled positions such as clerical support, service or sales roles (46.2%), and managerial, professional, technical and associate professional roles (66.4%). Similarly, individuals currently employed are more inclined to participate in non-formal training compared to jobseekers and those who are inactive in the labour market.