Company-level Strategies for Raising Basic Skills: A Comparison of Corus Netherlands and UK

■ This article reports findings from a study of the factors that shape workplace training practices and influence workers' participation. A comparison of basic skills training in steel production facilities in the Netherlands and the UK reveals that institutional frameworks matter but also that management attitudes and union activities influence training arrangements and set conditions for participation. Participation in training depends on these conditions as well as on personal characteristics of workers.