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Criteria lists of academic skills are widely used to assess the work readiness of people who are looking to enter or re-enter the apprenticeship market. These instruments represent a particular hurdle in the path to vocational training for low-skilled would-be trainees. We investigate the validity of one such list used in Germany. As different workplaces have diverse requirements, we question whether the same criteria hold for various professions. The study surveyed 538 trainees enrolled in vocational training programmes in eight different professions. Participants were asked about the requirements of their professions with respect to the minimum standards (as specified in the German Catalogue of Criteria for Apprenticeship Readiness) for work readiness. The results showed that the trainees consider the requirements during training to be lower than the minimum standards specified in the German Catalogue of Criteria for Apprenticeship Readiness and that substantial heterogeneity in requirements exists both between and within professions. We argue that criteria lists, which are also used in other countries in similar ways, should be treated with caution, as they might not be able to predict would-be trainees' readiness to successfully complete an apprenticeship programme due to enormous variability in job requirements.

This article calls attention to the difficulty of institutionalising vocational education and training (VET) in the service sector in Norway, despite the growing importance of this sector for national economic performance. Drawing on interviews with apprentices, employers, stakeholders, representatives of trade unions and employer organisations, the article investigates the contrasting foundation for institutionalising the Sales trade and the Office and Administration trade. The article advocates an institutional-theoretical framework and a labour market lens in order to understand the differences observed. The findings indicate more promising prospects for the Sales trade, because the skilled sales assistant receives great responsibility among young unskilled co-workers in a rapidly expanding labour market sector, whereas lower level office tasks are being rationalised and transferred to employees with higher academic education. These contrasting features of the institutional environment have profound implications for the learning opportunities provided, and the institutionalisation prospects of VET for retail and office work.

This paper examines trends in school-to-work transitions of young men and women with lower and higher secondary education in West Germany between 1984 and 2005. This period was marked by an increase in young women's educational attainment and a continuous growth of the service sector. We assume that both developments have benefited women more than men in terms of smooth labour market integration. Results from discrete event history analyses show that in recent years women indeed found their first job faster than men. However, this is not mainly due to an improvement in young women's chances to enter employment, but to deteriorating employment prospects of men, in particular of unskilled men. (Contains 6 figures, 1 table, and 8 notes.)

The main objective of the paper was to address the relevance of adult vocational skills-upgrading strategies for low-skilled workers. The research was based on an identification of core elements such as time, cost and access which define and impact on formulation and implementation of adult vocational skills-upgrading strategies. The literature review has identified potential challenges for low-skilled workers brought by skill-biased technological changes and labour market conditions, which define the correlation between low-skilled workers, employers and training opportunities. By illustrating adult vocational skills-upgrading strategies in Denmark and South Korea the paper concludes that elements such as time, cost and access have direct implications for low-skilled workers' skills acquisition and their integration into the labour market. (Contains 1 figure.)

This article explores the ability of the training and work experience offered under public works programmes to promote employment in South Africa. Public works are a key component of South African labour market policy and are ascribed considerable potential in terms of addressing the core challenge of unemployment. However, despite this policy prominence, the labour market impact of the training component of such programmes has not been studied systematically in South Africa, from either a theoretical or empirical basis, and this article attempts to provide an initial critique of the programme from both perspectives. This article outlines the unemployment situation in South Africa and the training component of the government's national public works programme, the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), which was developed to enhance workers' skills and labour market exposure, and thereby improve their subsequent employment performance. Theoretical and empirical arguments are used to develop a critique of the training component of the programme, and the article concludes by arguing that, as currently conceptualised, the national public works programme is unlikely to have a significant impact on skills development or unemployment, due the structural nature of unemployment, excess supply of low and unskilled labour, and the high skills growth strategy adopted by government. (Contains 2 figures, 1 table and 23 notes.)