Cork Companies Continue to Invest in Training
23rd August 2010
Results of a recent survey carried out by Cork Chamber indicate that Cork companies are continuing to invest in training for their employees. During 2009, over 40% of Cork Chamber member companies attended training organised by two state-funded training networks, BiznetCork Skillnet and Munster Finuas Network, both managed and promoted by Cork Chamber.
BiznetCork Skillnet, a long-established Cork training network managed by Cork Chamber and part-funded by Skillnets through the Department of Education & Skills, trained approximately six hundred people during 2009 on sixty training courses in the general areas of Communications, Management/Executive Development, IT Skills and Customer Relations. Munster Finuas Network, established in June 2009, focusing on providing training to companies engaged in the International Financial Services sector, trained over one hundred people in this vital sector within six months of commencement last year.
Emma Walsh, Training Services Manager at the Chamber said, "The results of a recent survey of Chamber member companies who engaged in training with our two training networks showed that over 70% found the training to be either very good or excellent".
Ms Walsh went on to say that, "According to the Skillnets Ltd Annual Report 2009, published last week, 85% of the companies who engaged in Skillnets-organised training had less than 50 employees, which highlights the demand among smaller enterprises for on-going training. For companies of this size, most of whom would not have an in-house training function, the savings, both in terms of time and money, can have a significant positive impact on the bottom line. Skillnets research shows that almost 90% of the companies who availed of Skillnets training found that their training network delivered lower cost training than available alternatives, and 86% stated that they could now avail of training that would not have been otherwise available. An interesting outcome of Skillnets training was that 69% reported that key business contacts were generated from their attendance at open training events".
"While wage freezes or reductions and increased responsibilities were commonplace during 2009, investment in training was a cost-effective employee motivator. BiznetCork Skillnet supported over 270 companies in a timely manner by working with them to identify and address their changing training needs", concluded Ms Walsh.
According to the Skillnets 2009 Annual Report, almost 28,000 companies availed of government subsidies for training through the Skillnets Training Networks Programme (TNP) during 2009. In what was an extremely challenging and volatile environment, which included significant reductions in funding, Skillnet network member companies invested €7.7m in Skillnets-organised training, with a further €14.5m being invested by Skillnets, which is funded from the National Training Fund through the Department of Education and Skills.
BiznetCork Skillnet and Munster Finuas Network continue to support Munster-based companies by offering enterprise-led, cost-effective, locally-delivered training. Contact Cork Chamber to see how your company can avail of government funding in support of your training plans or visit www.corkchamber.ie.
For further information please contact:
Emma Walsh, Training Services Manager, Cork Chamber, tel (021) 4530142
Lucy O'Donoghue, Membership Development & P.R. Manager, Cork Chamber, tel (021) 4509044
BiznetCork Skillnet, now in existence over ten years, offers a broad range of open training courses and networking events to address the varied training needs of our member companies, who operate at all levels across all industry sectors. For further information on BiznetCork Skillnet please visit www.biznetcork.com
BiznetCork Skillnet is funded by member companies and the Training Networks Programme, an initiative of Skillnets Ltd. funded from the National Training Fund through the Department of Education and Skills. For further information on Skillnets Ltd. and the Training Networks Programme please visit www.skillnets.ie
Munster Finuas Network, established in 2009, is a training network which aims to support the International Financial Services sector through the development of its human capital, working with a variety of companies who operate in, or provide professional services to the IFS sector. For further information on Munster Finuas Network please visit www.munsterfinuas.com
The Munster FINUAS Network is funded by member companies and the Finuas Networks Programme, managed by Skillnets Ltd. funded from the National Training Fund through the Department of Education and Skills. For further information on the Finuas Networks Programme please visit www.finuas.ie
Return to the News section