Employers' views on VET

15 March 2006

Australian employers are largely satisfied with the national vocational education and training (VET) system, according to the latest survey of employers.

The survey, managed by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), aimed to measure the extent employers use VET to meet the skill needs of their employees, their satisfaction with it, and what drives their training choices.

Employers use a mix of accredited training and unaccredited training to meet the skill development needs of their workforce. Accredited training leads to nationally recognised qualifications and unaccredited training does not.

Nationally, 57% of all employers used accredited training, 53% used unaccredited training and 79% provided informal training, for example relevant training on products or equipment.

Of those employers that used accredited training, 35% did so because they have jobs which require vocational qualifications, 28% employed at least one apprentice or trainee, and 24% employed staff who were undertaking nationally recognised training (other than an apprenticeship or traineeship).

Of those employers that used unaccredited training, 52% did so to provide employees with the skills required for the job, 29% did so to maintain professional and industry standards, and 21% did so to improve the quality of their goods and services.

Employers satisfaction levels were generally high for accredited and unaccredited training, although employers were more satisfied with unaccredited training, with:

• 92% of employers satisfied with unaccredited training
• 79% of employers satisfied with the training provided to apprentices and trainees
• 80% of employers satisfied with nationally recognised training (other than apprenticeships or traineeships).

The main reasons employers stated for choosing unaccredited training over accredited training centred around the suitability of the course, the cost, the ability to use their own trainers, convenience, and flexibility.

Nationally, employers widely recognise (85%) that training is important to their overall business strategy, and 86% of employers with a business plan include staff training in their business plans.

The survey was a joint initiative of the Australian Government and state and territory governments, with funding provided through the Department of Education, Science and Training.

ENDS

A copy of the Australian vocational education and training statistics: Employers' use and views of the VET system 2005–Summary can be downloaded from NCVER's website at www.ncver.edu.au/publications/1667.html

The Survey of Employers' Use and Views of the VET System was conducted to provide detailed information on the way employers interact with the VET system and their satisfaction in these dealings.

This is the first time the survey has been conducted in this form. Similar surveys were conducted in 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2001. Due to changes in the focus of the survey, results from the previous surveys and the 2005 survey cannot be compared.

The survey was conducted by computer-assisted telephone interviewing from February to September 2005. Employers were asked about their training experiences in the 12 months preceding their interview. A list of employers was ra ndomly selected from the Australian Business Register by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the purpose of conducting the survey. The sample was stratified by state/territory, industry of employer and size of employer (small, medium and large). The survey provides information for Australia in total, and for each of the states and territories. The results in this publication have been weighted to reflect the distribution of employers across strata. The estimates in this publication are based on a sample. Further information on the reliability of estimates and standard errors can be found in the support document, Explanatory notes, on the NCVER website at www.ncver.edu.au/publications/1667.html.

In total, 4601 employers were interviewed across Australia. Further information about the survey design and response rate can also be found in the support documents on the NCVER website.

Media enquiries to: Anna Payton, Marketing Officer, or Colleen Young, Manager, Marketing Services on +61 8 8230 8400.