skilled crafts apprentices sometimes have to pay for their training, while in other fields they are generally given little more than pocket money.'<sup>6</sup> The economic crisis of the 1980s appears to be have significantly expanded the role of apprenticeship. Faced with tight margins (or losses) and an excess supply of labor, employers are both extending the duration and increasing the number of apprenticeships. Thus, it is not uncommon to find workers in businesses with relatively simple skill requirements 'apprenticing' for five years. Another indication of the expanded role of apprenticeship is provided by the terms of employment: the low level of compensation appears to reflect the wage an unregulated market might set for untrained workers. Clearly, there is a potential for exploitation in the use of minimally compensated apprentices, but there is also an avenue for expanding employment and reducing costs beyond that allowed by labor regulations governing regular employees.

Official statistics (which do not include the informal sector) suggest an increase of over 200% in apprenticeships from 1984 to 1 9 8 9 .57 A 1985 government study of the informal sector' found that 21% of employees in firms surveyed were apprentices, while an additional 6% were "family aides". Apprenticeship was most common in skilled crafts, namely wood and woodwork, where they comprised 60% of the labor force (aside from the entrepreneur); metals, mechanics, and electricity, where they comprised nearly 62% of the labor force; and textiles and clothing, where they comprised over 45% of the labor force. There were virtually no apprentices found in unskdlled or non-craft fields such as commerce, transport, and teaching. The study found that the average age of apprentices to be 20, the youngest of any category of workers, indicating that apprenticeship is a transitional status for younger workers, as well as a substitute for vocational education. The CECPS survey suggests that apprenticeship is also concentrated in smaller enterprses, although not only informal microenterprises. While apprentices accounted for less than 1% of the corporate labor force, they accounted for over 20% of the ULLE labor force, and about 40% of the workers at sole proprietorships and unregistered enterprises.

Subcontracting With the government treasury in deficit and many formal businesses facing many consecutive years of losses, the formal sector desperately searches for ways of reducing the cost of producing and delivering goods and services. One method employed increasingly by public and private enterprises, as well as government agencies, is the use of subcontracting with informal sector

**s6.** According to one World Bank official, apprenticeship in law is not nearly so flexible as it is in practice. In this view, apprenticeship is formally subject to legal constraints and obligations not reported by the firms we interviewed.

I According to IMOCI figures, apprenticeships rose from 4% of work contracts in 1984 to 24% of contracts in 1989. Even with the number of new contracts declining by 40%, the actual increase numbers of apprenticeship contracts more than trebled. Annuaire Statistigue du Travail. 1989 S8 Ministeres de l'Education Nationale, de l'Economie, du Travail, et de l'Industrie. Le Secteur Informel Urbain. 1985: Princigaux Rdsultats 43