When new workers are hired finding people to train them can be a problem.  Many times a new hire has to be trained by their predecessor.  There are many positives and negatives to this. One positive is the worker who previously held the position typically has the best working knowledge of the requirements of the position.  The new hire can glean information that is specific to the role that he or she will be expected to fill.  In addition, the predecessor can narrow the amount of information to only what is essential to the successful, effecient completion of the task.  However, new hires can often be exposed to negative opinions and bad vibes of their predecessors when they are put in this kind of training environment.  Often when new hires come in with energy and innovative ideas they are squelched by employees who are on their way out.    In addition, if you are using the old employee to train the new hire there will be an increased cost to maintain both at the same time.