A recent study by the University of Maastricht has shown that working is a good form of learning. Although both government and corporate policies regarding learning mainly address formal learning (like training courses), informal learning has a lot to offer.

Researchers De Grip, Golsteyn and Borghans mapped out the knowledge development and learning processes of the Dutch workforce (16 years and older). They found that during work 31% of the time is spent on activities employees can learn from. Considering a fulltime job of 1740 hours per year, employees spend 540 hours on activities they learn from. This is a massive amount compared to the average 37 hours per employee that are spent on formal learning activities. This represents only 6% of the total learning time. This means that an estimated 94% of the learning an employee handles per year is informal, work-based learning. 

Working more is learning more, so let’s get back to work! 

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