Retraining

Refresher / Re-training is the process of learning a new or the same old skill or trade for the same group of personnel. Refresher/Re-training is required to be provided on regular basis to avoid personnel obsolescence due to technological changes & the tendency to forget. This short term instruction course shall serve to re-acquaint personnel with skills previously learnt (recall to retain the potentials) or to bring one's knowledge or skills up-to-date (latest) so that skills stay sharp. This kind of training could be provided annually or more frequently as maybe required, based on the importance of consistency of the task of which the skill is involved. Examples of refresher/re-training are cGMP, GDP, HSE trainings. Re-training (repetition of a training conducted earlier) shall also be conducted for an employee, when the employee is rated as ‘not qualified’ for a skill or knowledge, as determined based on the assessment of answers in the training questionnaire of the employee.

The need to retrain workers is often thought to apply to older members of the workforce, many of whom saw their occupations disappear and their skills lose value as technology, outsourcing and a weak economy combined to erode their ability to make a living. While older Americans do not face as high a rate of unemployment as the country’s teenagers and young adults, when they do find themselves unemployed, they remain unemployed for more than twice as long as teenagers.

While the stereotype for retraining needs is the older worker, youth in the United States and across the European Community (OECD) and Africa suffer from the same problem. The gap between the skills they possess and those that employers are actively seeking is significant and stagnating to their employment prospects. Currently in the United States, psychology, history and the performing arts make up 22% of college degrees earned. Demand for skilled employees, however, is in the areas of technology and engineering, currently at 5% of conferred degrees. “In both Britain and the United States, many people with expensive liberal arts degrees are finding it impossible to get decent jobs,” reports the Economist in its April 27, 2013 issue, adding that in northern Africa, job applicants with degrees face an unemployment level twice that of non-degreed candidates.

While technology anxiety and a nervousness about learning new processes and acquiring new skill sets has impacted older workers, younger job seekers are also facing a deficit of “applied soft skills” such as work ethic, social skills, communication and leadership.

The need for greater partnership and transfer of information between institutions of higher education is essential in reducing the skills gap for old and young people alike. Expanded internships and post-hiring training can help from the employers’ perspective and upgraded and more authentic technical training will help close the gap on the side of educators.

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Wikipedia