Continuing vocational training still not priority for employers

According to the National Statistical Institute’s survey on continuing vocational training (CVT), the proportion of enterprises that provided CVT in 2005 is lower than in 2002, although the figure represented an improvement on the results for 2004. The survey finds differences in participation in CVT by sector, company size and sex. More than 70% of organisations surveyed did not provide any training for their employees.

In mid June 2007, the National Statistical Institute (Национален Статистически Институт, NSI) presented preliminary results (in Bulgarian) of its fourth Continuing Vocational Training (CVT) survey, which was carried out in 2006. The survey is based on the methodology of the third Eurostat CVT Survey and presents information about the CVT provided by companies for their employees in 2005.

Methodology

Enterprises, companies and organisations with more than five employees – representing nine sectors of economic activity – were included in the survey. The sample frame is based on 25,000 organisations. Data were collected from 3,000 establishments through face-to-face interviews with management representatives. According to the Eurostat methodology, CVT is divided into two forms: training courses and other forms of CVT including on-the-job training conferences, job rotation, learning or quality circles, and self-learning.

Extent of training

Some 28.7% of companies surveyed carried out some training in 2005 (Figure 1). This proportion is higher than in 2004, when the figure stood at 26.8%, but is far from the 34.6% level reached in 2002. Training courses were the most common type of training, reported by 21% of the companies for 2005. The combined proportion of other forms of training declined from 24.1% in 2004 to 23.8% in 2005. Figure 1 shows an increase of 5% to 10% in the share of companies using courses to train their employees in 2005 as compared with previous years.

Figure 1: Enterprises organising CVT, by form of training (%)

Source: Continuing vocational training, NSI, 2007

A breakdown by sector of economic activity reveals that training was most prevalent in companies in electricity, gas and water supply (66.8%), financial intermediation (66.6%), and mining and quarrying (50.6%). Conversely, enterprises in hotels and restaurants (22.3%), trade, repair and household goods (24.5%), transport, storage and communication (24.6%) and manufacturing (27.8%) were less likely to provide training for their employees. While 38.1% of organisations in the public sector provided training for their employees, the proportion of private sector enterprises engaged in training was 28.3%. The private sector accounts for nearly 70% of total employment in Bulgaria.

Figure 2 presents the proportion of companies providing training in 2005 according to company size. Small companies offer the least amount of training, at 23.7%; moreover, their share has declined since 2004. Meanwhile, more than 60% of large companies and 44% of medium-sized companies reported training activities. Notwithstanding, increasing trends are observed only in the latter case.

Figure 2: Companies providing CVT, by company size (%)

Source: NSI, 2007

Breakdown of participants

In 2005, a total of 215,527 employees took part in training, of whom 63.9% were men and 36.1% were women. Taking into consideration the gender distribution of the labour force, the gender gap in terms of participation in training courses is highest in sectors where women represent almost half of the total employment, for example, in manufacturing or in trade, repair and household goods. Here, women’s participation in training stands at 35%–37% (Figure 3). On the other hand, female employment in the financial intermediation sector totals 66.3%, but the proportion engaged in training is higher, at 69.2%. Similarly, women represent 32.1% of employees in transport, storage and communication, but their involvement in training reached 44.4%.

Figure 3: Participants in training courses, by sex and economic activity, 2005 (%)

Source: NSI, 2007

Working time devoted to training

In total, it is estimated that 6.5 million paid working hours were devoted to training during 2005. Of these hours, 56.7% were in large companies, while small companies only had 13.5% of the total hours. It is worth noting that small companies account for more than 70% of employment in Bulgaria. The average time spent on training activities per participant in 2005 was 30.2 hours, with the largest companies spending 26.7 hours per person on training. Meanwhile, small companies spent 32.7 hours per person on training in 2005 and medium-sized companies devoted 38 hours per person. The gender gap identified above has widened, since men represented 63.9% of participants and accounted for 70% of hours devoted to training.

Commentary

The survey indicates that CVT activities are not yet on the employers’ agenda. More than 70% of the companies surveyed did not provide any training for their employees. There is an ongoing need to invest in continuing training in order to reach top European levels in this regard. Bulgaria must restructure its educational system and vocational training practice, and indeed plans are underway to this end (BG0704019D). Employers should increase investment in their human capital as a prerequisite for enhancing company competitiveness and should motivate employees to improve their skills.

Nadezhda Daskalova, Institute for Social and Trade Union Research