Economic change and continuous vocational training in the work history: a longitudinal multilevel analysis of the employees’ participation in further training and the effects on their occupational careers in Germany, 1970–2008

Human capital theory and the life-course perspective are used to investigate how economic modernisation, as well as developments in the labour market after the West German “economic miracle”, impacted employers’ supply of further education and training on the job, and employees’ increased participation in these arrangements. Additionally—controlling for the aforementioned structural change and economic cycles—it is analysed whether participation in further training minimises employees’ risk of dismissal and heightens their commitment to a company. The hypotheses are tested using longitudinal data and time series—allowing the analysis of employees’ participation in further education and training on the job, and the careers of West Germans born between 1956 and 1978 for the 1972–2008 periods—by procedures of event history analysis and episode splitting in a dynamic multi-level design. Systematic period and cohort effects of structural change in the economy and labour markets on companies’ supply of, and employees’ participation in, continued vocational training on the job have been revealed. Participation in further training reduces employees’ risk of dismissal, as well as their mobility between companies. Participants’ adaptation to structural change via job-related further training is correlated with increased employment security, professional flexibility, and commitment to the employer. Keywords: Further training; Occupational career; Human capital theory; Life-course research; Event history analysis; Time series Highlights Taking economic cycles and changing labour market situations into account, the trend of modernisation results in increasing participation in continuous further education and training on the job. Investments in such further training across the career contribute to participants’ stability of employment and their job security. On-the-job further education and training provide participants with higher job change rates and a higher likelihood of sticking with the same employer