Skill performance in informal economy workers: Multilevel perceptual assessment

Abstract

     Workers in the informal economy are generally considered to be low-skilled, which affects their productivity, income, and wellbeing. However, studies have not really explored the perceptions of these workers and their customers with regard to these workers' skill performance levels and how practice and training affect performance. We explored the skill performance of informal economy workers as perceived by 120 workers and 120 customers in 71 service operations in Hat Yai, Thailand using a mixed methods and multilevel survey. A model was developed for multilevel perceptual assessments using the Dreyfus adult skill performance rating scale. Workers perceived themselves much lower than the customers, but overall perceptions indicated that workers were primarily at the novice performance level for most skills, which agrees with the global assumptions that informal workers are plagued with low skills. The conclusions were that improving the quality and access to higher-level skills training could greatly improve the workers' per- formance. This study is vital for policymakers and training-providers to understand and plan vocational skills training for these workers.