LEADING TRAINING PROVIDERS

The American Society for Training & Development estimates that U.S. organizations spend more than $109 billion on employee learning and development each year, with nearly $80 of that spent on the internal learning function and nearly $80 billion on external services. In ASTD’s 2006 survey of large organizations (compiled before the end of the year and containing cost projections), the average annual expenditure per employee was $1,435. Companies that ASTD has cited for exceptional work in learning and development said they were spending more: $1,672 per worker.

Organizations’ investments in learning technology are now paying off, according to ASTD. Many of the organizations that have high-performing learning functions are able to "attribute clear cost savings, efficiency gains in the learning function, increased content reuse and decreased costs of learning development and delivery" thanks to their technology investments, the society reports. In ASTD’s 2006 State of the Industry survey of large companies, nearly 40 percent of the learning hours delivered to workers came through technology-based methods, versus 37 percent in 2005.

But the cost of providing training is on the rise. The large companies in ASTD’s survey said they spent an average of $1,101 to provide each hour of learning content in 2005. They projected the amount would be $1,243 in 2006.