I work as a technical consultant and my company has the exact same policy.
Just take a look at it from their perspective:
If I go to a 1-week school, I won't be working for them (generating any billing for them) for 1 week. Assuming that I bill at $80/hr for a 40 hr work week, that totals $3200
It will cost them about $2000 for the class.
It will cost them about $1500 for travel, lodging, etc.
Total cost of training to them: $6700
What they get in return: a more skilled employee that they can use to obtain higher bill rates from customers (assuming that I stick around). If I leave the company then they get NOTHING back from that $6700 investment. Wouldn't you be upset if you put a $6700 investment into someone and they just took off?
Cost of training to me: $0
What I get in return: skills that will make me much more valuable and will probably result in a raise.
All they ask in return: stay here for at least a year so that the investment that we have made in you will pay off for us.
You get to keep the skills for a lifetime. Sounds like a good tradeoff to me.
If you did decide to leave, the new company would probably compensate you more because of this new skill (depending on how valuable the skill was) allowing you to pay back the old company for the training and still make money off of the deal. You CAN still leave after the training, they just want you to pay back the money that they invested in you that you are now using to profit from.
Slashdot Mirror
I work as a technical consultant and my company has the exact same policy.
Just take a look at it from their perspective:
If I go to a 1-week school, I won't be working for them (generating any billing for them) for 1 week. Assuming that I bill at $80/hr for a 40 hr work week, that totals $3200
It will cost them about $2000 for the class.
It will cost them about $1500 for travel, lodging, etc.
Total cost of training to them: $6700
What they get in return: a more skilled employee that they can use to obtain higher bill rates from customers (assuming that I stick around). If I leave the company then they get NOTHING back from that $6700 investment. Wouldn't you be upset if you put a $6700 investment into someone and they just took off?
Cost of training to me: $0
What I get in return: skills that will make me much more valuable and will probably result in a raise.
All they ask in return: stay here for at least a year so that the investment that we have made in you will pay off for us.
You get to keep the skills for a lifetime. Sounds like a good tradeoff to me.
If you did decide to leave, the new company would probably compensate you more because of this new skill (depending on how valuable the skill was) allowing you to pay back the old company for the training and still make money off of the deal. You CAN still leave after the training, they just want you to pay back the money that they invested in you that you are now using to profit from.