LIFELONG LEARNING IN ROMANIAN SMES WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE SMALL SIZE ENTERPRISES

Improving lifelong learning is an important objective on Romanian and European political agenda as a result of multiple social and economic implications, given the positive influence, among other factors, on career development and employment, individual productivity and competitiveness growth of the company. The research objective is to evaluate lifelong learning in SMEs with a special focus on small enterprises (10-49 employees). A first aspect analysed was the dynamic of SMEs and employees by size class according to the number of employees and concentration of small enterprises in a comparative perspective with SMEs by activity of national economy, in the range of 2008-2015, making use of data from National Institute for Statistics (NIS). Other issue analysed is lifelong training through indicators like: percentage of employees who received paid time for training or on job training, intensity of training, financial support and the share of employees who received training in small businesses in a comparative perspective with business from other size classes. Analysis is based on data gathered through investigations, based on a questionnaire, carried out by Eurofound (3rd European Company Survey - ECS 2013) and by the National Council of Small and Medium Sized Private Enterprises in Romania (White Paper on SMEs in Romania). The paper ends with conclusions on lifelong learning in small businesses through connection with employment and economic performance.