Company-sponsored learning — formerly known as training — rose slightly on a per employee basis in 2012. But the increase was significant given that employers were hiring as the economy gathered steam – a trend that expected to continue this year.
This is the analysis provided by the American Society for Training and Development in its just-out 2013 State of the Industry report. Corporations are becoming more creative with their learning/training dollars, and employees report they are themselves engaged in many professional learning experiences that enhance their value to the company but that don't always show up in training and development studies.
ASTD estimated that, based on its survey sample, organizations spent $164.2 billion on training in 2012, up from $156 billion in 2011. Of that total, 61 percent, or $100 billion, was spent internally, with 28 percent ($46 billion) spent externally and another 11 percent ($18 billion) on tuition reimbursement. These categories were similar to those numbers reported in the year earlier study.
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On a per-employee basis, spending was up $13 per employee overall compared to 2011, to $1,195 in 2012.
As CARA Group, one of the report sponsors, noted in a preface to the report:
"We see corporations continue to show commitment to learning through increased expenditures to attract, retain, and develop their top talent. In addition, companies are now able to reach greater populations within their workforce through more innovative learning applications, such as the onset of new mobile and cloud-based technologies, social and informal learning tools, and contemporary human performance approaches.
"With effective measurement tools, companies can support a broader set of learning needs, more cost effectively. Organizations can address unique and changing development needs for their individual employees and global teams."
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
