Do worker retraining programs work?
I haven't been able to find much hard data on whether retraining programs actually work. For example, nothing that would answer questions like - Of the workers who lose a job and get government subsidized training, what fraction are making more at their new job than they did at their old job after 3 years? Does the fraction vary depending on the amount of the subsidy?
A study was referenced in U.S. Study Says Job Retraining Is Not Effective, but that was in 1993, and it would be out of date.
Possibly retraining programs are more of a subsidy to the training industry than an effective means to assist workers coping with job losses due to outsourcing or technological change.
Are there any recent and reliable studies on the effectiveness of worker retraining programs?
Try Congressional Research Service's Reports. Here a relevant search at Open CRS.
There are probably other reports to be found if you tweak the search terms.
May 30, 2009 9:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks.
However, these don't have data on training effectiveness.
May 31, 2009 11:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, that's just one of the places I look for that sort of data. I didn't have time to look through the results.
In case you don't know: GAO Home Page. Their search function can be a bitch though.
There is also USA Search dot gov. I've had mixed results there.
It's also exactly the type of question that the new search engine: WolframAlpha, is supposed to excel at. My experience with it has been dismal so far, but I haven't tried asking for data derived results. I can only post two lionks per response though, so just enter wolframalpha.com into your browser. That should work.
May 31, 2009 5:13 PM | Reply | Permalink