TEXT
Table 1. Number and percent of private nonagricultural
Table 2. Number and percent of private nonagricultural establishments with
Table 3. Number and percent of private nonagricultural
Table 4. Number and percent of private nonagricultural establishments with
Table 5. Private nonagricultural establishments with formal job
Table 6. Private nonagricultural establishments with formal job
Table 7. Private nonagricultural establishments not

 
 Technical information: (202) 606-5905          USDL 94-432
 
 Media contact:         (202) 606-5900          For release:  10:00 A.M. EDT
                                                Friday, September 23, 1994
 
 BLS REPORTS ON EMPLOYER-PROVIDED FORMAL TRAINING
 
        Virtually all large establishments provided at least some formal
training to their employees in 1993, compared with 69 percent of
establishments with fewer than 50 employees, according to a survey of
employer-provided training conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of
the U.S. Department of Labor.  Overall, 71 percent of employers provided
some type of formal training to their employees.
 
        The survey, which was sponsored by the Employment and Training
Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor, measures six different types
of training provided or financed by employers:  Orientation, safety and
health, apprenticeship, basic skills, workplace-related, and job skills.
 
        The findings in this release are based on a survey of nearly 12,000
private nonagricultural business establishments that was conducted between
February and July of 1994.  Formal training, as defined in the BLS survey,
is training that has a structured format and a defined curriculum, and may
be conducted by supervisors, company training centers, businesses, schools,
associations, or others.  It may include classroom work, seminars, lectures,
workshops, and audio-visual presentations.
 
 Survey highlights include:
 
        --Seventy-one percent of all establishments provided some type of
formal training to their employees in 1993.  Those with fewer than 50
employees were less likely to train (69 percent) than either those with
50-249 employees (98 percent) or those with 250 or more employees
(99 percent).  (See table 1.)  Because a disproportionate share of U.S.
workers are employed by large establishments, 9 in 10 employees worked in
establishments that provided some kind of formal training in 1993.
 
        --The provision of formal training varied somewhat across
industries.  Slightly less than 60 percent of all construction
establishments provided formal training of any kind in 1993.  This compared
with roughly 3 out of every 4 establishments in the finance, insurance and
real estate industry;  the services industry; and the transportation,
communications and public utilities industry.  (See table 2.)
 
        --Some types of formal training were more prevalent than others.
Nearly half of all establishments provided formal job skills training in
1993, while orientation, safety and health, and workplace-related training
(training in areas such as communication skills, diversity, and workplace
laws) were provided by about 1 in 3 establishments. Fewer than 3 percent of
all establishments provided formal training in basic reading, writing,
arithmetic, and English language skills during 1993.  Larger establishments
were more likely than smaller ones to provide formal training of all types.
(See table 1.)
 
        --The three types of job skills most commonly taught through formal
training were sales and customer relations, management skills, and computer
skills.  While about 1 in 4 establishments provided training in these areas,
1 in 12 provided formal training in food, cleaning, protective, and personal
service skills. (See table 3.)  The types of training provided may reflect
any number of factors, including the occupations of workers, the types of
job skills that are most easily taught formally (rather than informally),
and the types of skills that are most commonly taught in the workplace,
rather than in educational institutions.
 
        --The most common reason establishments gave for providing formal
job skills training in 1993 was that the training was necessary to provide
skills specific to their organization (75 percent).  Other important reasons
for providing formal job skills training were to keep up with changes in
technology or production methods and to retain valuable employees; each of
these reasons was cited by more than half of those providing formal job
skills training.  (See table 5.)
 
        --Establishments used a variety of methods for selecting employees
for formal job skills training.  During 1993, over half of all
establishments that provided formal job skills training made the training
available to all of their employees.  About a third of all establishments
trained employees to remedy skill deficiencies.  About 1 in 4 establishments
reported having employees volunteer for training, and a similar percentage
chose those with promotion potential.  (See table 6.)
 
        --Among large establishments providing formal job skills training,
a higher percentage select employees who require training to remedy skill
deficiencies (63 percent) than have either employees volunteer (55 percent)
or train all employees (51 percent).  In addition, training employees in
compliance with collective bargaining agreements was only notable in
establishments with 250 or more employees--13 percent cited that reason--as
large firms are those most likely to be unionized. (See table 6.)
 
        --Nearly two-thirds of establishments that did not provide formal
job skills training in 1993 reported that "on-the-job" training satisfied
their training needs.  Less than 10 percent reported that the cost of formal
training was too high or that they were unwilling to provide formal training
due to a fear of losing trained employees to other employers. (See table 7.)
 
 
 TECHNICAL NOTE
 
 Scope of the Survey
 
        The data presented in this report were obtained through a
probability sample of 11,991 private nonagricultural establishments in the
United States (excluding private households).  Each establishment included
in the sample had to have one or more employees in the first quarter 1992
Universal Data Base, the BLS register of establishments covered by
unemployment insurance.  The register does not include establishments that
came into existence after the first quarter of 1992; moreover, some sampled
establishments were no longer in business at the time of the survey.  The
sample was stratified by 20 industry groups and 5 employment size classes.
 
        Data collection was conducted between February and July 1994.
Establishments were mailed a survey questionnaire and asked to complete it
within 30 days.  All nonrespondents were mailed a second survey form and,
if necessary, were contacted through computer-assisted telephone
interviewing (CATI).  CATI was also used to contact respondents whose
answers required clarification.  The survey achieved an overall usable
response rate of 71.3 percent.
 
 Major Definitions and Concepts
 
        An establishment is an economic unit, such as a factory, mine, or
store, which produces goods or services and is engaged predominantly in one
type of economic activity.  Some multi-establishment companies submitted a
single report that aggregated information from more than one location.
 
        Training is the transfer of work-related skills, knowledge, or
information.  Training may be offered at the establishment or at another
location during working hours or at other times.  Training costs may be paid
for entirely by the employer or shared with others.  Examples of cost
sharing include employer contributions to union training funds and partial
reimbursement of employee educational expenses.
 
        Formal training is training that has a structured format and a
defined curriculum.  Formal training may be conducted by company training
centers, businesses, schools, associations, unions, or others.  It may
include classroom work, seminars, lectures, workshops, and audio-visual
presentations.
 
        The survey does not measure the number of workers who received each
type of formal training during 1993--it only identifies whether an
establishment provided formal training to at least one employee during the
year.  The six major types of formal training included in this survey are
defined below:
 
        Orientation training is training that provides information on
personnel and overall company policies.
 
        Safety and health training provides information on safety and health
hazards, procedures, and regulations.
 
        Apprenticeship training is a structured process by which employees
become skilled workers through a combination of classroom instruction and
on-the-job training.
 
        Basic skills training is training in elementary reading, writing,
arithmetic, and English language skills.
 
        Workplace-related training is training in policies and practices
that affect employee relations or the work environment.
 
        Job skills training is training that upgrades or extends employee
skills, or qualifies workers for a job.  Examples include management skills;
professional and technical skills; computer skills; sales and customer
relations skills; clerical and administrative skills; food, cleaning,
protective, or personal service skills; and production-related skills.
 
 Reliability of the estimates
 
        The sample of establishments used for the survey is one of many
possible samples that could have been selected, each of which could have
produced different estimates.  The variation in an estimate across all
possible samples is the sampling error of the estimate and is measured by
a quantity called the standard error.  Since the survey sample was selected
using probability sampling, the standard errors of the survey estimates were
calculated from the data collected in the survey.  For example, the survey
estimate that 71 percent of establishments offer formal training has a
standard error of 1 percent.
 
        Survey estimates are also subject to nonsampling errors that may
arise from many different sources such as an inability to obtain information
from all establishments in the sample, transcription errors, and
misinterpretation of definitions.  Nonsampling errors were not measured;
however, BLS implemented quality assurance procedures to minimize the
nonsampling errors in the survey estimates.
 
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request.  Voice phone: 202-606-STAT, TDD phone:
202-606-5897, TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-326-2577.
 
Table 1. Number and percent of private nonagricultural
establishments with formal training programs by size of
establishments, 1993
__________________________________________________________________
                              |        |        |        |
                              |        |  Less  | 50-249 | 250 or
        Characteristic        |  Total | than 50|employe-|  more
                              |        |employe-|   es   |employe-
                              |        |   es   |        |   es
__________________________________________________________________
 
                              |        |        |        |
 All establishments           |        |        |        |
    (thousands)(1)............|   4,501|   4,198|     257|      46
                              |        |        |        |
 Total establishments that    |        |        |        |
    provided any formal       |        |        |        |
    training (thousands)......|   3,192|   2,895|     251|      46
                              |        |        |        |
 Percent of all establishments|        |        |        |
    that provided any formal  |        |        |        |
    training..................|    70.9|    68.9|    97.9|    99.3
                              |        |        |        |
 Percent (2) of all           |        |        |        |
    establishments with       |        |        |        |
    formal:                   |        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |
  Orientation training........|    31.8|    28.5|    74.9|    92.5
  Safety and health training..|    32.4|    29.5|    70.2|    88.3
  Apprenticeship training.....|    18.9|    17.5|    35.6|    51.1
  Basic skills training.......|     2.2|     1.7|     7.2|    19.3
  Workplace-related training..|    36.1|    33.0|    77.3|    89.6
  Job skills training.........|    48.6|    45.8|    85.8|    95.9
  Other.......................|     4.1|     3.6|    10.5|    17.1
__________________________________________________________________
 
 
  1 The sampling frame does not include establishments coming into
    existence after selection of the sample, therefore the survey
    estimates of the total number of establishments may differ from
    the population values.
 
  2 Respondents could choose more than one category.
 
 
Table 2. Number and percent of private nonagricultural establishments with
formal training programs by industry, 1993
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                              |        |        |        |                          |        |        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |       Manufacturing      |Transpo-|        |        |        |
                                                          __________________________                                             
                             |        |        |        |                          |   r-   |        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        | tation,|        |        |Finance,|
                              |        |        |Constru-|        |        |        |communi-|Wholesa-| Retail |insuran-|
        Characteristic        |  Total | Mining |   c-   |        |        |        |cations,|le trade|  trade | ce, and|Services
                              |        |        |  tion  |  Total | Durable|  Non-  |   and  |        |        |  real  |
                              |        |        |        |        |        | durable| public |        |        | estate |
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        |utiliti-|        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        |   es   |        |        |        |
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                             |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
 Total establishments         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    (thousands)(1)............|   4,501|      21|     381|     309|     186|     124|     194|     345|   1,224|     429|   1,598
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
 Total establishments that    |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    provided any formal       |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    training (thousands)......|   3,192|      15|     224|     213|     127|      86|     142|     242|     849|     323|   1,185
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
 Percent of total             |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    establishments providing  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    any formal training.......|    70.9|    69.0|    58.8|    68.9|    68.7|    69.2|    73.2|    70.0|    69.3|    75.3|    74.1
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
 Percent(2) of total          |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    establishments with       |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    formal:                   |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Orientation training........|    31.8|    35.5|    22.4|    31.8|    30.6|    33.6|    38.9|    32.6|    32.5|    30.7|    32.7
  Safety and health training..|    32.4|    51.6|    32.9|    42.8|    44.9|    39.6|    43.6|    31.2|    31.4|    19.5|    33.2
  Apprenticeship training.....|    18.9|    17.4|    20.1|    14.7|    13.9|    16.0|    26.4|    14.5|    19.2|    22.3|    18.4
  Basic skills training.......|     2.2|     4.7|     0.7|     5.2|     5.8|     4.3|     3.4|     2.0|     1.9|     3.2|     1.8
  Workplace-related training..|    36.1|    37.0|    25.7|    33.9|    32.5|    36.1|    45.2|    33.8|    36.2|    39.2|    37.4
  Job skills training.........|    48.6|    47.7|    32.2|    47.8|    47.1|    48.9|    57.0|    52.0|    43.1|    58.1|    52.6
  Other.......................|     4.1|     5.3|     2.3|     5.6|     6.6|     4.3|    10.6|     4.7|     3.2|     4.4|     4.0
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                             |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
 
  1 The sampling frame does not include establishments coming into
    existence after selection of the sample, therefore the survey
    estimates of the total number of establishments may differ from
    the population values.
 
  2 Respondents could choose more than one category.
 
 
Table 3. Number and percent of private nonagricultural
establishments with formal job skills training by size, 1993
__________________________________________________________________
                              |        |        |        |
                              |        |  Less  | 50-249 | 250 or
        Characteristic        |  Total | than 50|employe-|  more
                              |        |employe-|   es   |employe-
                              |        |   es   |        |   es
__________________________________________________________________
 
                              |        |        |        |
 Total establishments         |        |        |        |
    (thousands)(1)............|   4,501|   4,198|     257|      46
                              |        |        |        |
 Total establishments         |        |        |        |
    providing formal job      |        |        |        |
    skills training           |        |        |        |
    (thousands)...............|   2,188|   1,923|     220|      44
                              |        |        |        |
 Percent of total             |        |        |        |
    establishments providing  |        |        |        |
    formal job skills training|    48.6|    45.8|    85.8|    95.9
                              |        |        |        |
 Percent of total             |        |        |        |
    establishments by type of |        |        |        |
    formal job skills         |        |        |        |
    training(2):              |        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |
  Management skills...........|    24.4|    21.1|    66.7|    85.6
  Professional and technical  |        |        |        |
     skills...................|    18.5|    17.2|    33.8|    53.9
  Computer skills.............|    25.7|    23.1|    58.1|    82.6
  Sales and customer relations|        |        |        |
     skills...................|    28.1|    25.8|    57.7|    71.1
  Clerical and administrative |        |        |        |
     support skills...........|    16.9|    15.1|    38.9|    61.1
  Food, cleaning, protective  |        |        |        |
     or personal service      |        |        |        |
     skills...................|     8.4|     7.2|    25.2|    27.6
  Production-related          |        |        |        |
     activities...............|    17.4|    15.7|    38.1|    58.4
  Other formal job skills.....|     8.0|     7.2|    17.3|    23.3
__________________________________________________________________
 
 
  1 The sampling frame does not include establishments coming into
    existence after selection of the sample, therefore the survey
    estimates of the total number of establishments may differ from
    the population values.
 
  2 Respondents could choose more than one category.
 
 
Table 4. Number and percent of private nonagricultural establishments with
formal job skills training programs by industry, 1993
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                              |        |        |        |                          |        |        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |       Manufacturing      |Transpo-|        |        |        |
                                                          __________________________                                             
                             |        |        |        |                          |   r-   |        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        | tation,|        |        |Finance,|
                              |        |        |Constru-|        |        |        |communi-|Wholesa-| Retail |insuran-|
        Characteristic        |  Total | Mining |   c-   |        |        |        |cations,|le trade|  trade | ce, and|Services
                              |        |        |  tion  |  Total | Durable|  Non-  |   and  |        |        |  real  |
                              |        |        |        |        |        | durable| public |        |        | estate |
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        |utiliti-|        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        |   es   |        |        |        |
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                             |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
 Total establishments         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    (thousands)(1)............|   4,501|      21|     381|     309|     186|     124|     194|     345|   1,224|     429|   1,598
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
 Total establishments         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    providing formal job      |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    skills training           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    (thousands)...............|   2,188|      10|     123|     148|      87|      61|     110|     180|     528|     249|     840
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
 Percent of total             |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    establishments providing  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    formal job skills training|    48.6|    47.7|    32.2|    47.8|    47.1|    48.9|    57.0|    52.0|    43.1|    58.1|    52.6
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
 Percent of total             |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    establishments by type of |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    formal job skills         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    training(2):              |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Management skills...........|    24.4|    27.9|    13.5|    23.0|    21.1|    25.7|    32.0|    22.8|    27.1|    31.0|    22.8
  Professional and technical  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
     skills...................|    18.5|    18.4|     9.9|    18.0|    19.9|    15.3|    20.8|    15.0|    10.7|    19.7|    26.7
  Computer skills.............|    25.7|    25.3|    14.2|    28.3|    24.1|    34.7|    35.6|    33.5|    16.4|    42.1|    27.8
  Sales and customer relations|        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
     skills...................|    28.1|    18.2|    11.7|    22.2|    19.5|    26.4|    34.6|    39.3|    34.8|    37.7|    22.4
  Clerical and administrative |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
     support skills...........|    16.9|    14.5|     8.6|    16.5|    15.2|    18.3|    23.5|    16.2|    14.1|    25.8|    18.2
  Food, cleaning, protective  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
     or personal service      |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
     skills...................|     8.4|     2.4|     0.8|     2.6|     2.6|     2.5|     2.8|     3.0|    15.8|     3.3|     9.0
  Production-related skills...|    17.4|    29.9|    20.3|    31.0|    30.2|    32.3|    25.4|    23.4|    17.0|     8.0|    14.5
  Other formal job skills.....|     8.0|     6.8|     5.7|     6.5|     7.6|     4.9|    11.8|     6.0|     4.4|     9.5|    11.1
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                             |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
 
  1 The sampling frame does not include establishments coming into
    existence after selection of the sample, therefore the survey
    estimates of the total number of establishments may differ from
    the population values.
 
  2 Respondents could choose more than one category.
 
 
Table 5. Private nonagricultural establishments with formal job
skills training programs by reasons for providing training, 1993
__________________________________________________________________
                              |        |        |        |
                              |        |  Less  | 50-249 | 250 or
        Characteristic        |  Total | than 50|employe-|  more
                              |        |employe-|   es   |employe-
                              |        |   es   |        |   es
__________________________________________________________________
 
                              |        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |
 Total establishments         |        |        |        |
    providing formal job      |        |        |        |
    skills training           |        |        |        |
    (thousands)...............|   2,188|   1,923|     220|      44
                              |        |        |        |
 Percent of establishments    |        |        |        |
    providing formal job      |        |        |        |
    skills training by        |        |        |        |
    reason(1):                |        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |
  Training is necessary to    |        |        |        |
  provide skills specific to  |        |        |        |
     establishment............|    75.0|    73.4|    86.8|    87.2
  Training helps retain       |        |        |        |
     valuable employees.......|    52.6|    50.1|    69.8|    75.8
  Changes in technology,      |        |        |        |
     production methods, or   |        |        |        |
     both necessitate         |        |        |        |
     upgrading employee skills|    53.4|    51.7|    63.5|    78.3
  Unable to hire employees    |        |        |        |
     with adequate skills.....|    13.0|    12.9|    12.4|    18.7
  Training is required by law |        |        |        |
     or regulation............|    24.6|    22.7|    37.5|    43.6
  Training is required by     |        |        |        |
     collective bargaining    |        |        |        |
     agreement................|     1.4|     1.1|     3.0|     9.6
  Other.......................|     6.5|     6.7|     4.5|     6.5
__________________________________________________________________
 
 
  1 Respondents could choose more than one category.
 
 
Table 6. Private nonagricultural establishments with formal job
skills training programs by methods for choosing employees for
training, 1993
__________________________________________________________________
                              |        |        |        |
                              |        |  Less  | 50-249 | 250 or
        Characteristic        |  Total | than 50|employe-|  more
                              |        |employe-|   es   |employe-
                              |        |   es   |        |   es
__________________________________________________________________
 
                              |        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |
 Total establishments         |        |        |        |
    providing formal job      |        |        |        |
    skills training           |        |        |        |
    (thousands)...............|   2,188|   1,923|     220|      44
                              |        |        |        |
 Percent of establishments    |        |        |        |
    providing formal job      |        |        |        |
    skills training by method |        |        |        |
    of choosing employees(1): |        |        |        |
                              |        |        |        |
  Training is available to    |        |        |        |
     all employees............|    55.6|    55.6|    56.0|    51.1
  Employees volunteer.........|    26.5|    24.6|    37.4|    54.8
  Supervisors choose employees|        |        |        |
     who require training to  |        |        |        |
     remedy deficiencies......|    33.8|    31.0|    52.4|    62.6
  Supervisors choose employees|        |        |        |
     with promotion potential.|    24.7|    22.2|    42.5|    48.2
  Collective bargaining       |        |        |        |
     agreement dictates which |        |        |        |
     employees are trained....|     1.6|     1.2|     3.6|    12.5
  Senior employees are        |        |        |        |
     generally trained first..|     6.5|     6.3|     9.3|     5.0
  Other.......................|    10.8|    10.6|    10.4|    19.6
__________________________________________________________________
 
 
  1 Respondents could choose more than one category.
 
 
Table 7. Private nonagricultural establishments not
providing formal job skills training programs by reasons
for not providing training, 1993
_________________________________________________________
                              |        |        |
                              |        |  Less  |  50 or
        Characteristic        |  Total | than 50|  more
                              |        |employe-|employe-
                              |        |   es   |   es
_________________________________________________________
                              |        |        |
                              |        |        |
 Total establishments not     |        |        |
    providing formal job      |        |        |
    skills training           |        |        |
    (thousands)...............|   2,313|   2,275|      38
                              |        |        |
 Percent of establishments not|        |        |
    providing formal job      |        |        |
    skills training by        |        |        |
    reason(1):                |        |        |
                              |        |        |
  On-the-job training         |        |        |
  satisfies needs.............|    65.2|    64.9|    82.8
  Only workers with necessary |        |        |
     job skills are hired.....|    28.2|    28.1|    34.7
  Cost of formal training is  |        |        |
     too high.................|     7.8|     7.8|     9.2
  May train employees and then|        |        |
     lose them to other firms.|     3.1|     3.1|     1.6
  Other.......................|    21.9|    22.0|    11.3
_________________________________________________________
 
  1 Respondents could choose more than one category.