In addition to the problems listed above, six of those interviewed mentioned drugs, and five noted a lack of child care facilities for their trainees. Transportation problems were noted only by Airlines whose jobs were located at Kennedy Airport, and by a few outlying Manufacturing and Retail locations.

A few program directors voiced dissatisfaction with the quality of the services provided by subcontractors or consortia. They noted a lack of an experienced professional staff, absenteeism, lateness, and excessive turnover among teachers, and inadequate orientation of trainees. A lack of communication among consortium participants was also mentioned several

times.

Coalition JOBS also interviewed nine directors of MA training consortia. The problem they were most concerned about was a lack of understanding of, or commitment to the goals of the program on the part of some individual companies. Sometimes this resulted in failure on the part of the company to hire trainees for all the training positions pledged to the consortium when the original agreement was signed. At times, the consortia also encountered a reluctance on the part of the firms to release trainees for classroom instruction or special counselling.

DROPOUTS and DISMISSALS

Turnover rates in MA training programs will be dealt with more

fully in a later report. This section will confine itself to a brief analysis of trainee terminations due to trainees leaving or being dismissed from the programs. *

At the time of the survey, 28% of the trainees hired under MA Contract programs surveyed had left their jobs and 18% had been dismissed. Two-thirds (67%) of the firms indicated, however, that MA trainee turnover rates were as good as or better than those of regular employees hired for similar jobs.

Dropouts

Dissatisfaction with wages or working conditions, difficulty with

supervisors, transportation problems, poor health, pregnancy, the opportunity to take a better job or to return to school, and a variety of other reasons may lead an employee to "drop out" of a job or a training program. Since Coalition JOBS did not interview any of the trainees or "dropouts" themselves, the reasons for trainees leaving the programs must be inferred in general terms from the information provided by the program directors.

Slightly over half of the "dropouts" (15% of all trainees hired) had left their jobs for reasons unknown to the program directors. Another five percent (5%) of those hired had left for a better job, to return to school, or for military service. The remaining dropouts (8% of all those hired) left for

* Termination here refers to the percentage of trainees whose employment by the firm had ended by the time of the survey. This should not be confused with turnover rates, which are usually computed on a yearly or monthly basis.

various personal reasons (health, pregnancy, family responsibilities, etc.)

Dismissals

"Lateness and absenteeism" was the reason given for close to four out

of every five dismissals (14% of trainees hired). "Various personal reasons" (including drugs, arrests, etc.) brought about the dismissal of 3% of those hired, while all other reasons (theft, inability to do the job, etc.) led to the dismissal of only 1% of the trainees.

LE

The Program Offer suggestions

and recommendations SIDES FUed res, to

improve the recrament among trainees. They were also asked what I CBS would be most helpful to them.

Modifications عزاء

The most frequens in MA Contract procedures

were: (a) Simplify and speed the essucesos process; (b) Simplify and speed the reimbursement procedures; d'amore flexibility in the definition of job titles, in the arrangement of progres components, in the use of funds. and in recruitment. Other suggestions were: Assign to each company a single contact person at the Department of Labor: Clarify terminology of the MA Contract Manual; Require more sensitivity training; Provide advance "seedmoney" for consortia; Require a closer relationship and more communication between individual firms in consortia; Have the Department of Labor reveal the formula which determines the maximum amount of funds allowable to a program; and, Devise a funding formula based on actual program costs instead of on job titles and wage rates.

A number of these suggestions have already been incorporated in MA-5 and JOBS '70 Contract procedures.