Introduction and Overview

Two factors are contributing to an increased interest in the training of adult employees. First, there is the present high rate of change in the technologies embodied in products and in production processes. This enhances the negative effect of the undersupply of training on economic growth. Higher levels of training would provide a more fertile environment for technological change. The second factor is the aging of the population. Almost all industrialized countries have experienced a decrease in the birthrate in the sixties after a baby boom in the late forties and fifties. As a result, the average age of workers is increasing and will continue to do so in the next two decades. There is a good chance that, without increased training efforts, this will cause the rate of productivity increase to slow down, as older workers are likely to be less productive than younger workers.