[amerliore]

Training is seen as competitive suicide, because while you bear the costs of training, your competitors can then poach your trained employees by offering a salary that is less than your total cost for that employee but more than the salary you pay that employee.

X = cost to train employee

Y = salary of employee

Competitor pays Z such that Y < Z < Y+X and puts you out of business.

The second factor is that if you raise wages for one person, then the rest of your workforce expects those wages. So a 10% salary increase for one person quickly becomes an across the board 10% bump on your personnel costs.

Bribing, lobbying, paying PR firms, pulling the wool over people's eyes is all judged to be a smaller expense and a worthwhile cost-saving measure.

The economically viable solution is to have schools do the training, but universities are likely not the best model for getting good tech workers.

[selmnoo]

> because while you bear the costs of training, your competitors can then poach your trained employees by offering a salary that is less than your total cost for that employee but more than the salary you pay that employee

I tell everyone that in this day and age, the company is not loyal to you -- they will get rid of you very easily if they need to, and so you should not be loyal to them. However, if the company starts investing in you, training you, then you should be loyal to that company. I would't go to a competitor that pays higher in this case (if they pay higher than 2(X + Y), consider it :)).

[pm24601]

> Training is seen as competitive suicide, because while you bear the costs of training, your competitors can then poach your trained employees by offering a salary that is less than your total cost for that employee but more than the salary you pay that employee.

Then I guess the company will just have to do without.

Seriously, if the need is so great then maybe, just maybe the company should do the training and should reward employees for staying.

Otherwise, maybe the need really isn't so great.

[raverbashing]

And what is the cost of not having an employee?

And surely, if your pay sucks so much your employee jumps ship the minute he/she finishes training maybe your company sucks.

The airline industry has one of the highest training costs of any industry and they still pay for training. Some manage to contract the employee into staying a couple of years (but this is not allowed in all countries)