retraining program

retraining program

      occupational training program designed to aid workers in obtaining new employment. Formal retraining programs were first developed in Europe around the end of World War II as part of the effort to return military personnel to civilian life, to reduce unemployment, and to fill the shortages in certain occupations that had developed during the war. Later, with the attainment of full employment, retraining programs were used as a means of rectifying critical labour shortages in specific occupations. They have also been put forward as at least a partial solution to the problem of structural unemployment in declining industries or industries severely affected by competition from imports.

      Retraining programs, which are perhaps most fully developed in western Europe, may include monetary allowances during training, relocation expenses, and family allowances. In several countries, refusal to participate in a retraining program disqualifies a worker from eligibility for unemployment compensation benefits. In the United States the Area Redevelopment Act of 1961 and the Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962 established worker retraining as part of the nation's effort to alleviate poverty.

      Two schools of thought have developed regarding the cost-effectiveness of publicly sponsored retraining programs. Critics argue that, when the economy is depressed, tax dollars are wasted on retraining workers for nonexistent jobs. In addition, many of the new jobs created by technological developments are beyond the scope of most labourers' skills; for example, it is usually futile to try to retrain a laid-off drill press operator to become a computer programmer. In this view, the responsibility for retraining should rest with employers, and the critics point to several employer-sponsored programs that have been quite successful. A number of large corporations have been able to shift employees to new jobs after careful occupational retraining. However, this task is considerably more difficult for smaller companies that lack the variety of occupations found in their larger counterparts.

      Proponents of publicly sponsored retraining programs argue that the policy is cost-efficient for two reasons. First, by retraining workers for reemployment, the overall burden of welfare support is reduced. Second, the tax revenue generated from increased employment more than offsets the cost of retraining.

      There are no substantive statistics that irrefutably support either set of arguments. However, while the two sides differ on where the responsibility for retraining should lie, they agree that the policy of worker retraining should be maintained.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • retraining — retrain re‧train [ˌriːˈtreɪn] verb [intransitive, transitive] HUMAN RESOURCES to learn new skills or to teach someone the skills needed to do a different job: • We bought new software and had to retrain everyone to use the database. retraining… …   Financial and business terms

  • retraining and career change — returning to a program of study in order to learn a new profession and change careers …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Attentional retraining — Psychology …   Wikipedia

  • automation — /aw teuh may sheuhn/, n. 1. the technique, method, or system of operating or controlling a process by highly automatic means, as by electronic devices, reducing human intervention to a minimum. 2. a mechanical device, operated electronically,… …   Universalium

  • Reutlingen University — infobox University name= Reutlingen University native name= Hochschule Reutlingen established= 1855 type= Public staff= 329 (as of 2004) rector= Peter Nieß students= 4,200 (as of 2006) city= Reutlingen country= Germany website=… …   Wikipedia

  • Norma Chavez — Infobox Governor name= Norma Chavez |caption= Texas State Representative Norma Chavez order= office=Texas House Member term start= January 9, 1997 term end= present predecessor= Nancy McDonald successor= incumbent birth date= June 29, 1960 birth… …   Wikipedia

  • Gordon Muir Giles — Born July 4th 1957 Woking, Surrey UK Gordon Muir Giles is a professor at Samuel Merritt University in Oakla …   Wikipedia

  • teaching — /tee ching/, n. 1. the act or profession of a person who teaches. 2. something that is taught. 3. Often, teachings. doctrines or precepts: the teachings of Lao tzu. [1125 75; ME teching. See TEACH, ING1] * * * Profession of those who give… …   Universalium

  • Cedar Key, Florida — Infobox Settlement official name = Cedar Key, Florida other name = native name = nickname = settlement type = City motto = imagesize = 250x200px image caption = Aerial view of Cedar Key and its outlying islands, illustrating the extremely small… …   Wikipedia

  • Santiago de los Caballeros — Infobox City official name = Santiago de los Caballeros other name = native name = nickname = La Ciudad Corazón motto = imagesize = image caption = Santiago City SkyLine |200px image image shield = COA Of Santiago de los Caballeros.jpg|100px… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”