Cedefop released a report in December 2015 summarising research on the role of in-company trainers in small and medium-sized enterprises. The study provides answers to basic questions on such issues as: who provides training in small and medium-sized enterprises, what kind of qualifications do trainers have, what are their main tasks and activities, how do they update their competences, how do employers support them, and do publicly support programmes exist for them?

254 enterprises participated in the study from eight countries (Belgium-Flanders, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal) and four sectors (automotive, construction, IT and hotel and food). Both trainers and employers were respondents in the study.

More information is available at the Cedefop website.

The most recent issue of the quarterly Education focuses on vocational education. The articles on VET include Iga Magda’s analysis of the qualifications upgrading among adults with basic vocational education reported in the Determinants of Educational Decisions study (2013 and 2014) carried out by the Institute of Educational Research.

The fourth article on the outcomes of the European skills and jobs (ESJ) survey, just published by Cedefop, analyses the determinants of adult workers’ skills development.

The ESJ survey data showed a positive relationship between the number of years in a job and a person’s skills development, which confirms the well-known thesis that skills building needs time. But even more interesting is the conclusion that the period in which workers continue to develop their skills is long: skills development is still positive after 15–20 years with the same employer.

The survey also showed the influence of organisational resources on workers’ skills development: employees who were able to benefit from multiple ways of developing their skills at work had higher levels of skills than those who had a more limited array of skills development opportunities.

More information is available at the Cedefop website