Qualified employees reap benefits of continuing vocational training

A report on continuing vocational training (CVT) in the northeastern Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia over the period 2001–2007 shows that participation rates in publicly co-financed training increase in relation to company size and employees’ skills and educational attainment. The report findings suggest that public resources still play a promotional role regarding CVT rather than taking a more cohesive approach by targeting low-skilled or older workers.

The recently established Regional Agency for Labour and Training of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region (Agenzia regionale del lavoro e della formazione professionale della regione Fiuli Venezia Giulia), a small northeastern region of Italy, has published a monitoring report entitled Continuing vocational training in Friuli Venezia Giulia from 2000 to 2007 (La formazione continua in Friuli Venezia Giulia dal 2001 al 2007 (in Italian, 1.2Mb PDF)). The report is based on an analysis of administrative sources of the Regional Directorate of Labour, Training, University and Research (Direzione Centrale del Lavoro, Formazione, Università e Ricerca), which monitors publicly-financed continuing vocational training (CVT) schemes.

CVT schemes

According to Italian legislation, CVT activities are supported by four publicly-funded schemes (see the Italian contribution to the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) report on the Contribution of collective bargaining to development of continuing vocational training for a full description of the regulatory framework). These four schemes are based on the following pillars:

• the European Social Fund (ESF), which is managed by the regions;

• bilateral training funds, which finance training activities agreed by the social partners at company level, according to the Finance Law 388/2000 (IT0202103F);

• Law 236/1993, which envisages CVT activities based on training plans signed by the social partners at company or territorial level;

• Law 53/2000, which implements the EU Council Directive 96/34/EC on the framework agreement on parental leave concluded by the European social partners and introduces individual training leave.

Apart from the ESF, CVT activities are financed by a 0.3% levy on the wage bill, established by Law 845/1978, which is paid by the employer, together with contributions to the National Institute for Social Insurance (Istituto nazionale previdenza sociale, Inps).

The Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Policies (Ministero del Lavoro, della Salute e delle Politiche Sociali) distributes funds to the regions in order to finance the latter two schemes. Classification criteria vary according to the scheme; this makes it difficult to provide a full picture both at regional and at national level, as highlighted by the 2007 annual report on CVT (Rapporto 2007 sulla formazione continua (in Italian, 1.2Mb PDF)) of the Institute for the Development of Vocational Training (Istituto per lo Sviluppo della Formazione Professionale dei Lavoratori, Isfol).

EU main source of funding

Table 1 summarises the use of these training schemes over the whole monitored period 2001–2007. The ESF was the most prevalent source of funding, involving almost 53,000 employees or about 10% of the total labour force. Meanwhile, 320 companies and over 12,500 employees benefited from national CVT programmes. The proportion of women involved in CVT is generally lower than their labour force participation, except in individual training (42.8%). Because of their administrative nature, these figures do not add up; no information is provided about companies and employed people availing of more than one scheme or regarding employed persons benefiting over time from the same scheme. Thus, no participation rate could be inferred.

Table 1: Companies and employed involved in CVT according to existing schemes, 2001–2007

	ESF	Bilateral training funds*	Individual training	National CVT programmes	Regional productive structure
Companies	1,910	80**	83	320	86,650****
Employees	44,363	2,235	1,039	12,644	401,392*****
Self-employed	7,996			No data	120,803*****
Total employed	52,957	2,235		12,644	522,195*****
% women	37.9%	19.9%***	42.8%	37.6%	41.8%*****

Notes: * 2003–2007 only the CVT fund for workers in industrial enterprises linked to the Confederation of Italian Industry (Confederazione Generale dell’Industria Italiana, Confindustria) (Fondo per la formazione continua delle imprese associate a Confindustria, Fondimpresa) and the Training fund for workers in small and medium-sized enterprises (Fondo formazione PMI, Fapi) ** only FAPI *** only Fondimpresa **** 2001 census from the National Institute for Statistics (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, Istat) ***** 2007 Labour force survey (LFS) figures.

Source: Regional Agency for Labour and Training, Friuli Venezia Giulia

Effect of company size

Table 2 shows the prevalence of CVT financed within each scheme according to company size. With regard to individual training, company size is reported in only one out of two companies. Large enterprises with 250 or more employees account for over 50% of companies involved in national CVT programmes since they require a training plan agreed among the social partners. Only ESF monitoring includes data for both companies and employees. Under the ESF, almost one company out of two involved in ESF-funded CVT activities is a small enterprise with fewer than 50 employees. It is worth noting that individual training financed by vouchers to employees in the form of training leave is the least widespread scheme.

Table 2: Companies and employees involved in CVT, by company size and scheme, 2001–2007

	ESF		National CVT programmes	Individual training
	Companies	Employees	Companies	Companies
Fewer than 50 employees	49.3%	23.9%	30.0%	18.1%
50–249 employees	35.8%	31.7%	17.8%	18.1%
250 employees	14.9%	44.4%	52.2%	15.7%
No size given				48.1%
Total	1,910	52,661	320	83

Source: Regional Agency for Labour and Training, Friuli Venezia Giulia

The regular use of ESF resources, which shows an almost consistent investment in human capital, increases with company size (see figure). While only 5.4% of small companies used ESF resources at least four times in a period of seven years, this proportion increased to 11.6% in medium-sized companies and to almost 20% among large companies.

CVT activities financed by ESF, by company size, 2001–2007 (%)

Note: Data from a survey of 1,106 companies: 155 large (250 employees or more), 320 medium (50–249 employees) and 631 small (fewer than 50 employees).

Source: Regional Agency for Labour and Training, Friuli Venezia Giulia

CVT activities financed by ESF, by company size, 2001–2007 (%)

Profile of training participants

Companies tend to provide training to clerks and highly qualified employees: clerks and skilled workers account for 63% of employees participating in CVT under ESF programmes and 54% of those taking part in national CVT schemes between 2001 and 2007 (Table 3). The apparent low involvement in CVT of managers and professionals depends on their concentration in medium and large companies, while small enterprises account for over 70% of total employment in Italy. Clerks and skilled workers are also the main applicants for individual training by availing of training leave, sometimes encouraged by their employer in order to avoid the bureaucratic burden and costs associated with training plans.

Table 3: CVT participation, by occupational status, 2001–2007

	ESF	National CVT scheme	Individual training
Managers, professionals	2.4%	2.1%	3.3%
Skilled employees and clerks	63%	54%	63.8%
Manual and unskilled workers	28.2%	25.8%	13.3%
Technicians	6.5%	6.3%	13.4%
No occupation given		11.8%	6.3%
Total	44,363	12,644	1,039

Source: Regional Agency for Labour and Training, Friuli Venezia Giulia

Commentary

According to the 2007 Isfol CVT report, Friuli Venezia Giulia is one of the three regions out of 20 Italian regions providing full monitoring of CVT schemes supported by public financing. The lack of data for other regions is due to poor coordination between the regions, which administer both employment services and training, and the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Policies. Thus, a 2007 intersectoral agreement envisages a better coordination in standards and in monitoring. The Friuli Venezia Giulia report is the first of its kind in Italy since it is the first attempt to report CVT supported by both public and bilateral funds: an increase in the latter is expected because of their recent institution.

The ESF still plays a major role in CVT financing over the 2001–2007 period since most bilateral training funds, managed by the social partners at intersectoral level, were established from 2003 onwards and ended their start-up phase in 2006–2007. As emphasised by nationwide studies carried out by Isfol, the Friuli Venezia Giulia report shows that public resources are mainly used in promoting CVT rather than being channelled towards targeted policies in favour of low qualified, unskilled and older employees. Furthermore, small companies show a wider involvement in ESF schemes; however, they tend to primarily involve skilled employees.

Mario Giaccone, CESOS