From Training Access Constraints to Career Time Horizon: Work–Time Pressure, Training Dissatisfaction, and Differentiated Participation in Workplace Training

Workplace training may be formally available but not always usable or developmentally meaningful. This study investigates how work–time pressure (WTP) and institutional access barriers relate to employees' dissatisfaction with training, how dissatisfaction relates to participation, and how training composition relates to desired or expected retirement age across occupational skill groups. Using cross‐sectional survey data from 4085 employees in Taiwan, the analysis applies formative indices, weighted regression models, average marginal effects, probability‐scale contrasts, and bootstrap inference. WTP was consistently linked to training dissatisfaction across all skill groups. Access barriers varied more by occupation, with a notable joint‐constraint pattern among low‐skilled workers, though bootstrap results qualified this. Higher dissatisfaction corresponded to lower training participation among high‐, upper‐middle‐, and middle‐skilled workers, but not consistently among low‐skilled workers. Both developmental and maintenance/compliance participation decreased with higher dissatisfaction, with significant within‐group orientation contrasts only among middle‐skilled workers. Dissatisfaction was also linked to narrower training portfolios in several groups. Among upper‐middle‐skilled workers, developmental‐only participation was associated with an adjusted retirement age about 2 years later than nonparticipation, while evidence for between‐group differences was sensitive to the method of inference. The study examines training inequality through associations among WTP, employment conditions, employee appraisal, and participation, without directly measuring how formal provision converts into usable training access. Rather than positioning Taiwan as a universal benchmark, it offers an analytical framework for comparing these associations across institutional settings. The findings motivate evaluating protected learning time and transparent access procedures, while monitoring both training composition and portfolio breadth alongside overall participation rates.