The Importance of Vocational Training in the Fight Against Unemployment and View of the Firms on Vocational Courses: In the Case of Konya

Today, many professions have lost their validity and disappear or applications have changed in time. Especially for the professions employing information devices, the differentiation is very sharp and rapid. At this point, the importance of flexible vocational training systems including short-term vocational courses is increasing more and more. The subject of the study consists of the issues such as unemployment which is one of the most important problems of the economy of the country for years, the importance of vocational training for combating unemployment, and the interest and view of the companies on private training centers providing short-term vocational courses. The aim of the research is to examine the vocational training and the importance of vocational training for combating unemployment in Konya specially and Turkey in general. The sample of the research covers two major sectors in metal processing sector of Konya: Companies producing motor vehicle parts and agriculture machines. Findings indicate that the problem of having difficulties in finding employees for some professions arises from the lack of sufficient experience and professional qualifications; companies regard vocational courses as beneficial; and government supports for export are not utilized by the majority of the companies