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In-company trainers as key drivers of quality 93

increases, skills are upgraded and expanded, and transitions between
jobs are better secured. Within local and sectoral strategies for economic
development, networks between enterprises and other key partners are
valuable in anticipating changes and planning joint solutions, among which
are flexible training and career guidance and counselling to help workers
develop new skills on demand.
Despite progress in building up lifelong learning strategies at national,
regional and local level, strong inequalities in access to learning for the adult
population remain and need to be specifically addressed. The task of widening
learning opportunities cannot be carried out by public authorities on their own:
responsibility has to be shared by a broad range of partners, including the
social partners. In the present economic turmoil, budgetary constraints could
be more reasonably met through coordinated and multidisciplinary approaches
to the design and delivery of both learning provision and appropriate support
services, such as guidance and counselling. Synergies between different
providers would allow delivery of learning opportunities in a differentiated
manner, according to specific needs and circumstances. Barriers to the
expansion of continuing training and on-the-job learning need to be considered
from the perspective of both employers and employees, and multifaceted
solutions put into action.
For enterprises, it is crucial to achieve flexible and strategic training
provisions, capable of anticipating and meeting employers’ evolving skills
and job requirements and emerging economic opportunities. We should
aim for increased cooperation among government agencies, enterprises,
sector organisations and training providers, in an effort to improve the
scope of training and make the best use of available incentives, support
services for both employees and enterprises, and mechanisms for valuing
learning. Only through better coordination of existing resources it would
be possible to customise skill development initiatives to employers’ needs,
while personalising services according to the needs and circumstances
of individuals. Improving the relevance and responsiveness of continuing
training and less formal on-the-job learning requires that diverse policy
measures, sources of expertise, financial incentives and learning services
are combined, responsibilities shared and partnerships expanded to devise
and implement practical measures in enterprises.
The reproduction of inequalities in learning participation according to
individual qualifications (the highly qualified receiving most training) may also
be observed among sectors, with knowledge-intensive sectors being more
inclined to provide training. Lifelong learning policies should also address