Summary: Both government and the private sector spend considerable sums to train the nation's workforce. In 1995, the federal government alone spent about $20 billion on 163 programs that included some aspect of worker training. GAO found that large employers were about twice as likely to take advantage of several types of training programs as were small employers. Training programs that require employers to comply with detailed administrative or other paperwork requirements present economic barriers. Small employers may find it too costly to devote the time needed to conform to these requirements. In addition, training programs that focus on workers' general needs rather than on employers' specific skill needs present institutional barriers. Finally, informational barriers may also exist because small employers often know less about the training programs available to them than do larger employers. In GAO's case studies, those programs that focused mainly on employer needs used or actively encouraged consortia, which are organizations of employers, unions, or other interested parties. These consortia provide employment training to employers and, in these particular programs, overcame many of the barriers cited above.
