Labour markets, unemployment and training for quality: Germany and Japan

This article examines the cases of Germany and Japan where education and training is orientated towards producing workers who can consistently deliver high standards of quality control in manufacturing industry. It begins by examining why unemployment is such a serious problem for Europe and then moves on to analyse the significance of training for quality. The discussion contains a case study on Germany. It considers the dilemma between reducing the problem of too much regulation while ensuring that standards remain to ensure high quality training. A second case study looks at Japan and the question of training for quality there.