LENGTH of TRAINING

Programs varied greatly in the length of time the recruit was considered

a "trainee."

Thirty-two (32) of the programs surveyed lasted from 10 months to one year; 24 of them ran from 4 to 9 months, and 20 were for 3 months or less. Sixteen (16) programs were of variable or unspecified duration.

There was not a very strong relationship between post-training wages and length of training, although 13 of the 20 short-term programs were for jobs paying less than $2.20/hr. after training. Almost as many (12) of the lower-wage programs lasted from 10 to 12 months.

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MAJOR PROGRAM COMPONENTS

Only On-the-Job Training (OJT) and Special Counselling are required

of all MA Contract training programs. However, in designing a wellbalanced training program, Coalition JOBS stresses the importance of Pre-vocational Skills Training and Remedial Basic Education to help prepare trainees for advancement beyond entry-level jobs.

Coalition JOBS' survey found that the majority of the programs included, in addition to the two required components, one or more of the "optional" ones. In most cases, these were on a regularly scheduled basis and were

required of all trainees.

However, some programs included Skills Training, Basic Education, Counselling, and even On-the-Job Training on an "as needed" or voluntary basis. A few of those surveyed noted some reluctance on the part of supervisors to release trainees from their job duties for special sessions, which cut down on trainee participation in the voluntary aspects of these

programs.

In addition, in a small but significant number of companies, the person interviewed knew very little about individual program components and referred the interviewer to the Supportive Service or Consortium Director for details.

In staffing their training programs, MA Contract companies have their choice of using their own employees (regular staff or those hired specifically for the MA training program) or the staff of a central Consortium or Supportive Service Subcontractor.

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On-the-Job Training was always conducted by the companies' own employees, but over half of the programs relied on "outside" assistance in carrying out most of the other major program components. Basic Education and Skills training were the components most often conducted by non-company trainers. Special Counselling was done by outsiders in just over half (51%) of the programs and, while slightly less than half of the programs used outside staff for Supervisory Sensitivity Training, many of the others relied heavily on standard curriculum materials developed by professional Sensitivity Training firms.

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED

The Program Directors were asked to identify the problems they

had encountered in carrying out the MA program, and to specify which
of these had caused serious inconvenience, or had involved a significant
proportion of trainees.

The most frequently mentioned problems were lateness and absenteeism among trainees. However, only about one in five (22%) of the companies said that absenteeism involved a significant number of trainees and only one in ten labeled lateness as "serious." Several companies noted that these were also problems among regular employees.

Aside from problems involving trainee work-habits, a "lack of experience with, or knowledge about problems of disadvantaged workers" was cited most often (35%). "Lengthy delay between application for, and approval of contracts" was mentioned by 28% of the companies (mostly White Collar) but less than one-third of those who experienced this problem considered it a serious difficulty.

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