Introduction

The Second International Conference on Training, Employability and Employment will bring together leading scholars, trade unionists and practitioners, to examine the nature and role of training and development in the restructuring of work and employment.

Skill requirements at work are changing, new vocational qualifications are being introduced and training and development are assuming a greater significance than ever before. Paradoxically, this increased emphasis on training and skill formation at, and for, work is occurring at a time when the nature of employment is being reshaped by increasing casualisation, contracting-out and the contraction of collective representation and voice. What role, then, does training and skill formation have at the new workplace? How might partnership-based approaches encourage and support training, learning and employability? How can trade unions enhance employee voice in training matters?