ABSTRACT
Human resource development is a key part of HRM, but in practice HRD and training can mean anything from a short online course on Health and Safety to a three-year qualification in accountancy. This chapter attempts to explain these differences and covers a number of important topics in the area. It uses Cockburn’s (1983) distinction between skill in the person, skill in the job and skill in the social setting to draw out the variation in training provision and in the nature of work. VET is structured in varying ways in different nations and different workplaces, with expansive work designed to enhance and develop skills or restrictive and tightly managed tasks designed to minimize them. It goes on to consider the rise of the gig economy. This has created a great demand for training, but its fragmented tasks and freelance workers mean that such demand is unlikely to be fulfilled. There has also been a considerable growth in the importance of soft skills, but this is not accompanied by pay rises or labour market power. On the positive side, there has been a rise in the number of workers gaining qualifications. The chapter concludes with both optimistic and pessimistic predictions for the future, considering the prospects for a knowledge economy and those for deskilled and routinized work.
