Supporting training is not the only function of training funds – these also help stimulate business, assist employees in managing job transitions and furthering their careers.
This is one of the main conclusions of an online workshop organised by Cedefop on 22 May to present and discuss the interim findings of Cedefop study on ‘Training funds in the EU’.
The event brought together around 60 participants: representatives from the European Commission, social partners, national administration and institutions, persons involved in the implementation of training funds, researchers as well as national stakeholders - including policy-makers and social partners from countries potentially interested in establishing training funds.
Cedefop’s Patrycja Lipinska and Günter Hefler of 3s (the representative of the research consortium commissioned by Cedefop) presented the main interim results of the study, explaining the nature and basic characteristics of training funds, the patterns of their implementation across the EU and their key functions.
It was highlighted that training funds are very heterogenous institutions, usually set up at national level or sectoral level. In several countries, training funds play a key, systemic role in the provision of continuing vocational education and training (CVET), while in some others, they are established only for some selected sectors or only on a voluntary basis and therefore play a rather complementary, specialised role in the CVET system.
Benefits are not restricted to training systems
Cedefop Executive Director Jürgen Siebel drew some emerging conclusions:
- By pooling together compulsory employers’ contributions and attracting additional public funding, training funds can mobilise substantial financial resources for training and ensure stable funding flows
- Apart for their financial function, they bring various other benefits for the training systems: aggregating training needs of employers and supporting the development of tailored, high-quality training offers; becoming centres of expertise on labour-market and training related issues; strengthening cooperation and dialogue between social partners on training related issues.
- Training funds benefits are not restricted to training systems. They may also stimulate broader business performance by supporting innovation adoption, helping to enhance job quality, management practices and HR planning, especially for the SMEs. They may help employees manage their career progression and job transitions and provide support to groups disadvantaged in the labour market.
During country sessions, the workshop participants had the opportunity to learn about the functioning of training funds in three selected EU Member States: Spain, Cyprus and The Netherlands.
The discussions offered a better understanding of the strengths and challenges of training funds and of the potential actions to be taken to improve their operation and performance. The aim was also to provide insights and policy lessons which might be helpful for countries wishing to strengthen their existing training funds or establish the new ones.
