The fourth article on the outcomes of the European skills and jobs (ESJ) survey, just published by Cedefop, analyses the determinants of adult workers’ skills development.
The ESJ survey data showed a positive relationship between the number of years in a job and a person’s skills development, which confirms the well-known thesis that skills building needs time. But even more interesting is the conclusion that the period in which workers continue to develop their skills is long: skills development is still positive after 15–20 years with the same employer.
The survey also showed the influence of organisational resources on workers’ skills development: employees who were able to benefit from multiple ways of developing their skills at work had higher levels of skills than those who had a more limited array of skills development opportunities.