Contractual Status, Workplace Learning Opportunities, and Employability in Vocational and Adult Education

Abstract

Workers employed in the same labour market do not necessarily receive the same opportunities to develop occupational competence after entering employment. This study examines how contractual status relates to learning through work across four workplaces in Germany and Australia: two manufacturing organisations, one logistics workplace, and one healthcare workplace. The investigation comprised 180 hours of non-participant observation, semi-structured interviews with 38 workers and 11 managers, and examination of training records and collective agreements. The 38 workers included 22 permanent employees, nine fixed-term employees, and seven agency workers. Analysis focused on task discretion, mentoring, participation in unfamiliar or demanding work, interaction with experienced colleagues, and employees’ engagement with activities that broadened occupational knowledge. Two researchers coded the material independently, with Cohen’s κ = 0.79. The three contractual groups showed a distinct difference in weekly discretionary learning activity: permanent employees averaged 4.6 episodes (SD = 1.3), fixed-term employees 3.1 (SD = 1.1), and agency workers 1.8 (SD = 0.7). Workers who had received structured preparation in problem-solving or quality improvement were also better able to identify and explain learning that occurred during everyday work. These results show that employability is influenced by more than qualifications and individual motivation; it is also shaped by access to work that permits continued learning. Five conditions emerge as central to continuing occupational development: substantive occupational knowledge, access to learning-rich tasks, guidance from experienced practitioners, deliberate interpretation of workplace experience, and recognition of competence gained through work.