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BULLETIN 153
Vocational training, productivity and decent work

Inter-American Technical Bulletin on Vocational Training, 2002

 

(Text available also in Spanish)

 

THIS ISSUE

 

 

THIS ISSUE

Vocational training, productivity and decent work are three concepts that are profoundly interrelated, so much so that they are often considered as reciprocally essential components, and necessary and indispensable conditions, of both the conceptual definition and the objectives of each element of the three.

In order to illustrate the foregoing assertion, and by way of examples, it should be enough to say that vocational training is considered an indispensable condition for increasing the productivity of workers and of organizations, and as a workers' right it is a necessary component for a job to be considered "decent" in the emerging paradigm of decent work which is being promoted by the ILO. Productivity, in turn, as well as being strengthened by training, as is asserted above, is included in the definition of decent work itself, this being understood as productive and quality work, with respect for workers' rights, in conditions of safety, and which includes social dialogue and collective bargaining. Lastly, decent work, which is a product of the interaction between the four dimensions which make it up, creates an environment which stimulates investment in training, and which, directly and indirectly, raises the productivity of a job, of companies and of countries.

These three concepts, and their interrelations and mutual enhancement, were the subject of the Tripartite Inter-American Seminar on Vocational Training, Productivity and Decent Work, which was held in Rio de Janeiro from 15 to 17 May 2002. This event was organized by the ILO, through the Regional Office for the Americas, the In-Focus Program on Practical and Theoretical Knowledge and Employability, and the ILO office in Brazil. It was co-sponsored by the national department of the Brazilian National Industrial Learning Service (SENAI), and it had technical assistance from the Inter-American Center for Research and Documentation on Vocational Training (Cinterfor/ILO).

Participating in the Seminar there were tripartite delegations from Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago, and also representatives of government and employers' and workers' organizations from Bolivia, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Spain and Uruguay. The main objective of the meeting was to analyze, exchange and spread experiences of the policies, organization and management of vocational training on the national, regional and international levels.

This issue of the Cinterfor/ILO Technical Bulletin compiles the main papers presented at the Tripartite Inter-American Seminar on Vocational Training, Productivity and Decent Work, and also includes other articles which tackle the subjects dealt with at that important event from different perspectives. Moreover, we present a series of figures which were prepared from the national reports which each delegation presented at the Seminar, which give an outline of the general panorama of vocational training in the countries represented as well as some private initiatives which different social actors have taken in this field.

The first item in the Bulletin is an article by Gerry Rodgers which tackles the subject of the role which the paradigm of decent work is called upon to play in the global economy. The main components of the concept of decent work, and the interrelationships between them, are described and analyzed. In addition, the need to construct a more equitable framework for globalization is underlined, a framework which would avoid the social exclusion of an increasing proportion of the world's population, which unfortunately is one of the characteristics of the current integration model of the world economy.

The second article, which was prepared by Fernando Casanova, is about the processes of change in vocational training that have been under way in Latin America and the Caribbean in recent decades, and the way the training institutions in the region have reacted to them. Particular attention is paid to the links between training and facets of economic and social development in the countries, such as productivity, competitiveness, and the objective of decent work.

Then comes an article by Jaime Ramírez Guerrero, a panoramic overview of the subject of the financing of vocational training in the region. From the descriptive the point of view, as the author says, he intends to give an account of the diverse sources and modalities of financing which are to be found today in Latin America and the Caribbean, and from the analytic point of view he seeks to identify the most significant trends in the way in which countries in the region are mobilizing public and private resources for this kind of investment.

The next article, by Fernando Vargas, is split into two parts. In the first there is a general panorama of the application of the principles and methodologies that have to do with training and certification based on labor competencies in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the second part, the author discusses the veracity of four widely-held postulates that have to do with the subjects dealt with here.

The fifth article is a contribution from Sara Silveira which, in its first part, describes and analyzes the changes which have occurred in the world of work around the end of the 20th century and the start of the 21st, with particular emphasis on the female viewpoint on these changes. The second part of the article deals with vocational and technical training from the perspective of gender as an instrument to bolster the employability of women and as an important component of policies for combating social exclusion.

Next there is a contribution by Enrique Brú Bautista that examines the close connection that exists between the concepts of productivity and decent work, a theme which was touched on in the introductory paragraph to these notes. Through an analysis of the processes and mechanisms of improvements in productivity and economic growth in countries as well as in companies, the author concludes that productivity and decent work are two links in the same chain, and that they condition each other.

The next article grounds some of the conceptual considerations and analysis dealt with in the previous articles, and examines one concrete experience in the sphere of vocational training at the local level in the Republic of Argentina. This article, by María Antonia Gallart, grew out of research based on a survey among graduates from labor qualification courses at Vocational Training Center No. 401 in the Province of Buenos Aires. Among the subjects of the survey were the socio-economic characteristics of the population covered, their work situation before and after doing the courses, and an evaluation by the participants of the training they received. It was considered that, alongside articles that are eminently conceptual, it would be appropriate to include one which gave an empirical approximation of the subjects under discussion, in order to have a small example of how some of the phenomena described in general terms in the preceding articles manifest themselves in one specific location.

Lastly, there is a contribution by Steve Bainbridge and Julie Murray. It is about the development and application of the policy dispositions of vocational training in the European Union, from the creation of European Economic Community by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 until the signing of the Treaty of the European Union in Amsterdam which came into force in May 1999. This article was originally published by CEDEFOP. It is included here so as to show how vocational training and the development of human resources have been handled in other regions which are different from Latin America and the Caribbean.

At the end of the bulletin there is a section reviewing publications connected to the subjects dealt with here. First there are two ILO publications, Learning to train to work in the knowledge society and Global Employment Program.

The first of these looks at recent legislation, policies and practices which reflect a new way of focusing on learning, training and the development of human resources. This publication forms part of the process which is under way within the ILO towards adopting a new Recommendation on the subject of training and the development of human resources.

The second is a presentation of the ILO's Global Employment Program, which has been created with the main objective that employment should occupy a central place in all social and economic policies. For the creation of a new employment strategy, the program introduces seven key elements, and they are described and analyzed in this publication. Not only are these fundamental elements presented, but for each one the main challenges in policy matters, the creation and spread of knowledge, and the indicators and standards of reference are established.

The third review is Social Dialogue in the European Union, a publication from the Spanish Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. It gathers together the judgments or shared opinions, and also agreements, recommendations and proposals, which emerged from European inter-professional social dialogue between 1985 and 1995.

Cinterfor/ILO's aim with this Technical Bulletin is to give the reader a publication which to a large extent constitutes an overview of the state of the art in vocational training in Latin America and the Caribbean, and is also an important documentary source on the thought of a series of researchers about the links and interconnections between training, productivity and decent work. One last point is that it constitutes another example of the fruitfulness of joint work and cooperation between the different programs and offices of the ILO, activities which Cinterfor will always be disposed to undertake.

 

 

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