Continuing Education / Training of HVAC Journeyman

The following question was originally posted to a LinkedIn HVAC Educators Group on March 26, 2015 to open a dialog on continuing education of HVAC  journeyman based on personal observations.

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Continuing-Education-Training-4642714.S.5986812180463448065?view=&gid=4642714&type=member&item=5986812180463448065&trk=hp-feed-group-discussion


In this area (SE. PA, NJ and De) a contractor promotes in their advertising that their techs receive 150 hours of training annually. My question is: Assuming a tech has completed a structured training program that includes a combination of school and field experience such as an apprenticeship, how many hours of annual training should a tech service tech receive a year to maintain / improve proficiency, learn about new technologies and equipment, and new equipment specific service practices?

The reason for the question is once a person achieves journeyman status it appears the number of these techs participating in continuing HVAC education programs appears extremely low. This observation is based on resumes, job applications and interviews reviewed over the past two years for open positions I was hiring for, as well as a low enrollment in training programs of techs that fall into this category I am associated with.