Do employees in different European countries have equal chances of gaining access to continuing vocational training?
No. Our studies of more than 100,000 companies across Europe have pinpointed several groups of countries, starting with those where continuing vocational training is widespread. This is the case with France, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg and Sweden. At the other end of the scale are the countries where few companies invest in continuing vocational training and only a few employees have access to it. These countries are Poland, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. Whereas one employee in two benefits from an average of 28 hours of professional training per year in France, the figures drop to one employee in five and less than five hours in Greece.
Most countries lie somewhere in between these two extremes. Take the United Kingdom, Norway, Germany, Spain and Portugal: on average, one employee in three in these countries benefits from continuing vocational training. But employers’ behaviour can vary considerably. Whereas more than half of companies invest in continuing vocational training in Germany and the UK, only one in three does so in Portugal and Spain.

Are employees of large companies more likely to benefit from continuing vocational training?
Yes. You can even say that their chances increase in proportion to the size of the company. In most countries, 90% of companies with more than 250 employees provide training. On the other hand, small companies all over Europe are much less likely to train their employees. Just a handful of countries stand out from the rest: in the UK, Norway, Denmark and Sweden, three quarters of small companies provide training. Everywhere else, the gap between small and large companies is growing. These figures weigh heavily on the national averages, because nearly 70% of European employees work for small companies.

Why is there so little continuing vocational training in small companies?
The example of France proves that it is not just a matter of cost because government incentives and legal obligations have been set up there. Moreover, small companies see a clear link between investing in training and increasing productivity. They suffer more from a lack of assistance evaluating needs and finding the right courses for their employees. The Norwegians have understood this.

Their large companies organise their continuing vocational training courses in collaboration with SMEs. What’s more, the initiative to train is as much up to the employees as to the company, and courses mainly take place outside working hours, which causes less disruption for the SMEs. And, at a national level, there are fewer differences related to workforce sizes.

So the Scandinavian countries are setting an example again?
Let’s say they are doing well. These countries have responded to the uncertainties of globalisation with their “flex-security” model in which continuing vocational training plays a key role. This also means that it has cost countries such as Sweden a lot to retrain the employees of companies that have gone out of business.

Are we getting any closer to a “lifelong learning” model?
Europe has set targets in this respect, focusing on improving individuals’ qualifications and knowledge in a global economy. So continuing vocational training is more of a priority than ever. The latest figures indicate that companies’ practices are beginning to converge, but there is still a long way to go. In addition to employer-funded “informal” training, continuing vocational training also encompasses so-called “formal” training, with the prospect of gaining a qualification. And, here again, practices differ from one European country to another.

Have certain countries encouraged training courses that lead to qualifications?
Schemes have been set up in Sweden and Denmark, backed by public funds. But this is not just happening in Scandinavia. German employees can study for their “Meister” degree while working; their jobs are subsidised by a government grant. On the other hand, continuing vocational training rarely leads to a qualification in France. This is an example of a dual institutionalised system: the state provides the initial training and then hands over the task to the companies, which – rightly – organise continuing vocational training according to their needs. The onus to provide training falls back on the state only when employees lose their jobs! In a word, France has confused “lifelong learning” with “lifelong training”.