Companies Spend an Average of $1,202 per Employee on Training

This is a benchmark that I have often been asked for, but didn't have until I ran into information on the 2008 Corporate Learning Factbook, an annual study of corporate training budgets, spending and trends published by Bersin & Associates.

When reviewing a total rewards program, it can be helpful to include data on employee training and development, relative to market practices.

Other findings from Bersin's research:

• The average spending per learner of $1,202 is roughly equivalent to last year.  Spending varies significantly from industry to industry; the highest spending industry is finance & insurance ($1,061 per learner) and the lowest is retail ($594 per learner).
• 21% of all training dollars - overall - are spent on leadership development and management/supervisory training, making this the largest area of investment on a cross-industry basis.  Not surprising given the increasing evidence that we are or soon will be facing a real deficit of leadership talent.
• While leadership/management training is a top priority overall, specific industries are investing heavily in other areas, including:
  • In telecommunications, 23% of training program dollars are spent on customer service training
  • Technology companies are spending 29% of training program dollars on sales training
  • Pharmaceuticals are spending 25% of training program dollars on compliance and other mandatory training
• E-learning has grown dramatically.  The use of self-study e-learning now accounts for 20% of student hours, up from 15% last year.  Related to this, this year's study has also shown a sharp increase in new web-based and collaborative learning resources, including podcasts, blogs and wikis.

Comments

[Frank Giancola]

Ann,

Good point. Training often gets overlooked as an important employee benefit.

Some companies will report on their employees' annual compensation and benefits statements the amount of money available to employees through tuition reimbursement programs to make them aware that education and training are part of the total rewards package being offered. I'm sure some report the actual funds spent by employee.

Frank

[Wally Bock]

"21%of all training dollars - overall - are spent on leadership development and management/supervisory training, making this the largest area of investment on a cross-industry basis."

This sounds wonderful, but my experience is that most companies spend very, very little on timely training in supervisory skills for their first time and front line leaders. It also seems common to label training in form-filling and prophylactic HR as "leadership" training.