Strategic Human Resource Management

Section One

expense to other employers. Accordingly, employers would
rather hire an employee who has the requisite general skills.
When employees having the requisite general skills cannot be
hired, the employer must invest in general training without
assurance that the unskilled employee will remain employed
long enough after training for the employer to recoup the
investment.^10

In reality, employers probably invest in general training
more than the specific and general training rationale would
suggest. A recent study has found the following:

under certain conditions [use of employment

contracts and retention of employees based on

productivity] the firm may share the costs of and

returns on investment in general human capital

and pursue no lay-off policy. General human

capital will have the same implications as firm-

specific capital.^11

General training can be obtained in on-the-job training as
well as in formal programs such as tuition reimbursement. It
also can occur unintentionally simply as a byproduct of the
work situation as employees learn work skills that are
applicable to other employers. Employers may make general
training investments in employees by paying a wage during