The effects of on-the-job training programmes on employment applied by Turkish employment service

Active Labour Market Policies can be defined as applications to increase the possibility of integration of the unemployed into the labour market. On-the-job training programmes are one of these policies. These programmes are organized by Turkish Public Employment Service in order to enable the participants to apply the theoretical knowledge previously gained or to gain professional experience. This study was planned to determine the reasons for the employment and non-employment of the participants of on-the-job training programmes and also to understand the impact of these programmes on employment by determining the effects of the programmes on participants. Semi-structured interview method, a qualitative analysis technique, is used in the study. A ready list of questions was prepared to be asked to the participants and new questions were asked according to the answers received from these questions and it is provided to examine the subject in-depth. A total of 28 programme participants volunteered for interviews. The interviewees belonged three different groups: persons who were laid off at the end of programmes (8 people), who were laid off after working as much as programme duration after programme (10) and who were employed after these two terms (10).Interviews lasted for 18 minutes on average. While majority of the interviews were conducted in Bolu Çalışma ve İş Kurumu İl Müdürlüğü service building, some were conducted at participants' workplaces or outside. According to the findings obtained in the research, the programmes are used extensively by young people who are one of programmes' target groups. This also gives us clues that the youth unemployment is high. Young people are the most effected group by cyclical unemployment also known as insufficient demand unemployment. Cyclical unemployment can be solved when the economy revives and starts to grow. In this case, interventions with on-the job training programmes can be insufficient. The study revealed that programmes are generally used at high production periods for jobs that can be learnt in a short time and do not require experience. The programmes usually do not contribute to the long-term employment of the participants and are mostly used in favour of employers. The study also shows that participants whose long-term employment could not be provided face the lock-in effects. In addition, for the participants who are qualified to find a job such programmes were found to be ineffective in the labour market. Keywords: Active Labour Market Policies, On-the-job training programmes, Cyclical Unemployment, Lock-in Effect, Ineffectiveness.