Job entry and on-the-job skills acquisition in the construction sector

摘要

This paper presents a research project focused on induction in the construction sector in France, in which employers report difficulty in retaining newly hired employees. The objective was to identify the various types of job status of these new workers and to understand what happens after they are hired, with a particular focus on the ways in which skills are acquired and transmitted by the various protagonists. To explore these issues, 26 interviews were conducted with employees of a large construction company. An analysis of the responses showed that despite the variation in the job status of these new employees, the way in which they learn the job is relatively uniform and rudimentary. Skills are acquired opportunistically, often at the initiative of the newly hired employee, with older employees lacking the resources and the time to pass on their know-how. These findings raise issues relating to workplace safety and organization - a dual focus of the debate about conditions conducive to skills transmission.