Re:Why Germany Is Better at Training Its Workers
by moconnor on Friday October 17, 2014 @05:15AM
(#8470069)
Also it's extremely difficult to fire a German machinist; labour laws are employee-friendly in Germany and unions are strong. Many companies reduce working hours in difficult times rather than laying off workers.
Re:Why Germany Is Better at Training Its Workers
by ThomPete on Friday October 17, 2014 @06:38AM
(#8470242)
As far as I remember that changed within the last 5-10 years.
Re:Why Germany Is Better at Training Its Workers
by Tomte on Friday October 17, 2014 @06:55AM
(#8470287)
No, Kurzarbeit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_time) was one preeminent mechanism saving our economy.
Other countries without that mechanism suffered much more.
In Germany we basically loosened the rules for Kurzarbeit (not officially, I think, but the authorities were much more lenient than usual about the legal requirements), because it was a mechanism already in place.
That last part is important. A mechanism that only works okay, but is already implemented everywhere is much better than the perfect mechanism, specifically tailored to your needs, but impossible to roll out on short notice.
Re:Why Germany Is Better at Training Its Workers
by ThomPete on Friday October 17, 2014 @08:47AM
(#8470635)
Yeah we have that too in Denmark where I am from. Not so sure it's what saved the Danish economy. I think it's more to do with a fairly flexible workforce and that all agreements about salaries happen between the employer and the employee unions.
The German 40-year old machinist also tends to have a right to continuous training, to be provided by the employer. Since the employer likely already spent quite some money on that employee, they’ll have a higher interest in securing this continuous training and make sure that their employee stays up to date.