Skills and the Small Firm: A Research and Policy Briefing
This paper examines the debate over training in small firms. SMEs are vital for addressing the national training picture.
Skills and the Small Firm: A Research and Policy Briefing (PDF, 495 Kb)
Published June 2010
Paul Edwards is Professor of Industrial Relations at Warwick University Business School and member of the UK Commission’s Expert Panel. In this paper, he examines the debate over training in small firms. SMEs are vital for addressing the national training picture due to their numbers and the numbers of people whom they employ, but they have often been seen as having weaknesses with regard to training their workforce. Prof. Edwards believes there needs to be more nuance in this debate, that research needs not to treat SMEs as monolithic, and that policy should reflect the differences between them.
