Lack of time, expense among reasons for reduce training: StatCan
While there has been a lot of talk about the importance of upskilling, the number of Canadian workers that are actually undergoing training has dropped, though just slightly, according to Statistics Canada (StatCan).
In November, 29.2% of persons aged 25 to 54 had taken training outside the regular education system in the previous 12 months. These include courses, seminars, conferences, or private lessons.
Among core-aged Canadians who took training in the previous 12 months, the most common type was job-specific training (73.9%), suggesting that employers play a critical role in driving training participation, according to the report.
Other types of training people were likely to take included personal development training (17.8%) and occupational health and safety training (15.4%). Despite ongoing technological change, the proportion who had taken general computer-related training in the last 12 months was little changed at 8.8% in November 2024.
However, the number of persons aged 25 to 54 who had taken training outside the regular education system in the previous 12 months is down 0.8 percentage points compared with November 2022, according to the report.
Many did not take any training because there was no need for them to do so (69.5%), similar to the proportion in November 2022, says StatCan.
At the same time, compared with November 2022, higher proportions indicate they did not take training because they are too busy (+3.6 percentage points to 16.7%) or because the training was too expensive (+2.5 percentage points to 9.6%).
“The emergence of new technologies and the ongoing transformation of the economy can lead to important changes in the demand for different types of skills within the labour market. In addition to the education system, different types of training can help address skills gaps,” says StatCan. “Several factors can drive participation in training, including investment made by employers, costs, and employee motivation and availability.”
Conflict resolution is one of the most sought-after training topics for frontline managers amid growing concerns about customer incivility, according to a previous report from Axonify.
