The relationship between works councils and firms’ further training provision in times of technological change

Abstract

Participating in further training is strategically important for employees to ensure their employability. Particularly for employees in low‐skilled jobs, works councils — firm‐level organizations that represent employees — constitute an important employee advocacy instrument in European countries, such as France and Germany. With comprehensive co‐determination rights, works councils can influence firms’ hiring policies, job design and career paths (e.g. promotions). Using German firm‐level data, we empirically investigate the influence of works councils on firms’ training provision for employees in firms below and above the industry level of technology. The results show that works councils have a positive effect on the percentage of employees in general, and of employees in low‐skilled jobs in particular, participating in training, but only for firms below the industry level of technology. These results show the importance of works councils in supporting training in such firms and enhancing the employment prospects of employees in low‐skilled jobs. In contrast, firms above the industry level of technology invest in training with or without a works council, indicating that the training interests of employers and employees are aligned.

What is critical for human-centered AI at work? – Toward an interdisciplinary theory

“…(b) That worker's councils have an important role to play as facilitators of bringing together unskilled and low-skilled workers or functionally illiterate employees with continuing education activities. Still, the members of worker's councils need to be qualified to fulfill their role (Lammers et al, 2022;Arbeiter, 2023).…”

Navigating uncertainty: Employee participation dynamics in times of crisis

“…We draw on the collective voice framework (e.g., Freeman & Lazear, 1995;Freeman & Medoff, 1979) and explicitly focus on the possibilities that emerge from improving internal communication through formal and informal employee voice committees that provide room for dialogue and collective action (e.g., Jäger et al, 2022a). Institutionalized industrial relations committees on the shop floor, such as works councils, could easily aggregate, and voice the preferences of the workforce, leading to reduced information asymmetries and more cohesion (e.g., Lammers et al, 2023). However, not only institutionalized but also management-implemented more flexible committees such as weekly meetings, round table conferences, or employee spokespersons are essential to collect and relay information from the shop floor.…”