Getting employers to spend more on training: lessons from overseas

Abstract

There is widespread belief amongst many Australian commentators that Australian employers do not provide their employees with enough training. In recent years this belief has led to calls for the re-imposition of compulsory levies on employers to ensure that they spend more on training. This belief is largely based on the analysis of data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), particularly data on training expenditure. In this chapter we challenge this interpretation of the data and make the case that Australian employers do not spend much less than their international counterparts on training for their employees and that the way to get employers to invest in training is not through the use of compulsory levies.