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Looking for the latest statistics and facts on the topic of learning and development?
My updated guide for 2024 has everything you need, and more.
Feel free to use the jump links below to go to the section that interests you the most.
You can also use this jump link to quickly jump to the KEY STATS section.
Also, all the references and resources I used in crafting my guide are listed at the bottom of the page.
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Jump here: Key Learning and Development Statistics, Facts and Trends for This Year| Learning and Development Statistics, Facts and Trends for This Year (Detailed Info)
Table of Contents
Key Learning and Development Statistics, Facts and Trends for This Year
Key Learning and Development Statistics, Facts and Trends for 2024
- 50% of the metrics L&D use for success are classed as vanity metrics.
- Only 9% of people said they were vulnerable to poaching.
- 82% of organizations and businesses now use LMS’s to optimize their training initiatives.
- Replacing an employee costs on average 33% of their annual salary.
- By 2026, the value of the onboarding software market is expected to reach $1.45 billion.
- Nearly all of the top 10 most valuable skills for the 2030 market in the US and the UK are workplace skills.
- 60% of online learning costs can be attributed to travel for larger organizations.
- 89% of workers surveyed said bad hires typically have poor soft skills.
- 92% of talent professionals and hiring managers agree that candidates with strong soft skills are increasingly important.
- Nearly a third (32%) of UK adults believe empathy is the most important soft skill their manager could possess.
- Using a skills-based approach predicts job success for entry-level employees five times better than education requirements.
- The number of positions that don’t require a degree increased by nearly 40% in 2024. In 2025 that trend is expected to increase.
- Companies that excel at internal mobility retain employees for an average of 5.4 years, nearly twice as long as other companies.
- 87% of workers believe they need to develop new skills throughout their working lives.
- 41% of respondents recognize that they have the skills they need to thrive for a maximum of four years.
- Employees who feel their skills are not being put to good use are 10 times more likely to be looking for a new job.
- Only 47% of workers surveyed think that their company is making a significant investment in their professional development.
- Less than 40% of executives are happy with their organization’s investment in their development.
- An estimated 20% of the workforce in the UK will be significantly underskilled for their jobs by 2030.
- Thanks to the rapid advancement of AI, the world will need to reskill more than 1 billion people by 2030. Up to 1.4 million workers will need reskilling by 2026.
- 58% of the workforce needs new skills to get their jobs done.
- The skill sets for jobs have changed by around 25% since 2015, expected to double (50%) by 2027, and to triple (75%) by 2030.
- 54% of companies globally are struggling to find skilled workers.
- 74% of CEOs were concerned about the availability of key skills.
- More than 76% of HR professionals feel their company underutilizes onboarding.
- 36% of HR professionals believe inadequate technology leaves them unable to streamline onboarding processes.
- 21% said outstanding onboarding helped their organization meet revenue goals.
- 49% said new hires were more engaged at work.
- 46% said new hires were more confident in their roles.
- Around 4 in 5 employees believe onboarding programs help them integrate and understand company culture.
- 77% of employees believe easy access to information helps keep them productive and engaged.
- 35% of companies have no formal onboarding program.
- 35% of companies spend zero dollars on onboarding.
- 81% of new hires feel overwhelmed with information during onboarding.
- New hires are given between 10 and 40 tasks to complete on average.
- New hires are expected to have an onboarding timeline of two weeks.
- More than 93% of employers believe onboarding is critical in an employee’s decision to stay or leave
- 70% of employees who liked and excelled at their jobs had a streamlined onboarding experience
- A good onboarding experience improves long-term job satisfaction by more than 2.6 times.
- The average onboarding cost is $1830 per hire.
- Only 12% of employees feel their organization provides a good onboarding program.
- Over 40,000 searches are made each month in Google UK for “resignation letter template” as of 2025.
- 15% of people who resign state feeling “unmotivated” as a reason.
- The UK employment rate was estimated at 75.9% in January to March 2023.
- Over 320,000 people handed in their notice for a role in Q1 of 2023.
- Onboarding improves a company’s retention rate by 82% when done properly
- 79% of employees say onboarding programs help them integrate and understand company culture
- 65% of employees are confident they can find a better position elsewhere that offers more compensation.
- 23% of new hires turnover before their first anniversary.
- 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great. onboarding.
- 23% of employees who quit within 6 months say clear guidelines on responsibilities would have. helped them stay.
- For jobs paying less than £30,000 per year, replacing staff costs 16% of the annual salary.
- 40% of individuals choose to leave their jobs due to dissatisfaction with their superiors’ performance.
- 96% of employees believe empathy is crucial for job retention.
- 60% of onboarding takes place digitally.
- 39% of employees received the right level of support during remote onboarding, but 18% received no support at all.
- The number of remote employees has grown by 44% in the last five years.
- Remote employees who received comprehensive onboarding were 18% more likely to feel satisfied with their job.
- Virtual employees are 35% to 40% more productive than their in-office counterparts.
- 58% of companies have provided hardware to help employees onboard and work remotely.
- 39% of employees would take another job if they could work entirely remotely.
- 27% of UK workers say they lack sufficient digital skills for their job role.
- 58% of workers said a lack of digital skills has affected them negatively in the workplace.
- 88% of young people (aged 16-24) think digital skills will be essential to their careers.
- By 2025, COVID-19-related economic uncertainty and increased digitization will result in 85 million displaced jobs worldwide and create 97 million new ones.
- 46% of business leaders said the skills gap has been wider at their organization since 2021.
- 87% of executives said they were experiencing skill gaps in the workforce or expected them within a few years
- 83% of HR leaders reported trouble recruiting suitable candidates in the preceding 12 months.
- 75% of those reporting recruitment difficulties believed there was a skills shortage among applicants
- For workers remaining in their roles till 2025, 40% of core skills will change, and 50% of all employees will need reskilling
- 79% of L&D professionals agree it’s less expensive to reskill a current employee than to hire a new one
- 74% of organizations say reskilling their workforce is important or very important to their success over the next 12-18 months.
- Just over half (51%) say that between half and all their workforce will need to change their skills and capabilities in the next three years.
- For up to 70% of employees, their job type will cease to exist by 2030. This is largely because AI will replace them and take over their current jobs.
- 74% of employees are ready to learn new skills or re-train to remain employable in the future.
Learning and Development Statistics, Facts and Trends for This Year (Detailed Info)
What Percentage of L&D Success Metrics are Considered Vanity Metrics?
50% of the metrics L&D use for success are classed as vanity metrics. Vanity metrics often provide surface-level insights without actionable information for the businesses to use to further their growth.
What Percentage of People Reported Being Vulnerable to Poaching?
Only 9% of people said they were vulnerable to poaching. This stat suggests that either employees are very sure they can’t be poached, or they haven’t received the right offer yet. In any case, companies should work hard at please their best worker so they stay with them over the long haul.
What Percentage of Organizations Use LMS for Training Optimization?
82% of organizations now use LMS to optimize their training initiatives.
Learning Management Systems (LMS) have become a standard tool for managing and delivering training content. This high adoption rate indicates that most organizations see value in incorporating this apps into their workflows.
What is the Approximate Cost of Replacing an Employee as a Percentage of Their Annual Salary?
Replacing an employee costs approximately 33% of their annual salary.
Employee turnover can be expensive, but sometimes it is necessary and can’t be avoided.
L&D Onboarding Statistics
What is the Projected Value of the Onboarding Software Market?
By 2025, the value of the onboarding software market is expected to reach $1.35 billion. By 2030 the projected value of onboarding software market is expected to reach $3.84 billion.
How Many of the Top 10 Most Valuable Skills for the 2030 Market are Workplace Skills?
Nearly all of the top 10 most valuable skills for the 2030 market in the US and the UK are workplace skills
This emphasizes the growing importance of soft skills and adaptability in the future job market. It suggests that education and training programs should focus on developing these workplace skills alongside technical competencies actually needed to do the job correctly and efficiently.
By What Percentage Did Career Goals Increase in Employee Priorities?
Career goals took the lead in employee priorities, jumping up by 15%. Just 5 years ago career goals were far further down the list of employee priorities.
What Percentage of Online Learning Costs for Larger Organizations is Attributed to Travel?
60% of online learning costs can be attributed to travel for larger organizations.
This means that despite the “online” nature of these learning programs, travel still constitutes a significant portion of the costs. This suggests potential inefficiencies in current online learning implementations and opportunities for cost reduction through better use of remote learning technologies.
The Importance of Skills in the Workplace
What Percentage of Workers Believe Bad Hires Usually Lack Soft Skills?
89% of workers surveyed said bad hires typically have poor soft skills. This is another stat (similar to the stat above) that shows how important are soft skills for workplace development.
92% of talent professionals and hiring managers agree that candidates with strong soft skills are increasingly important
What Fraction of UK Adults Consider Empathy the Most Important Managerial Soft Skill?
Nearly a third of UK adults believe empathy is the most important soft skill their manager could possess
Empathy is increasingly recognized as a key leadership trait in the modern workplace.
How Much Better Does a Skills-Based Approach Predict Entry-Level Job Success Compared to Education Requirements?
Using a skills-based approach predicts job success for entry-level employees five times better than education requirements.
Another related stat coming from the same study showed that the number of positions that don’t require a degree increased by nearly 40% in the last few years. It seems like having the required skills trumps everything else.
How Much Longer Do Companies Excelling at Internal Mobility Retain Employees Compared to Others?
Companies that excel at internal mobility retain employees for an average of 5.4 years, nearly twice as long as other companies.
What Percentage of Workers Believe in Continuous Skill Development Throughout Their Careers?
87% of workers believe they need to develop new skills throughout their working lives.
This high percentage indicates a widespread recognition of the need for lifelong learning in today’s rapidly changing work environment. It also suggests that employees are likely to give warm receptions to learning and development opportunities their employees provide for them.
What Percentage of Employees Believe Their Current Skills Will Be Relevant for No More Than Four Years?
41% of employees recognize they have the skills they need to thrive for a maximum of four years.
This statistic highlights the rapid pace of change in skill requirements across industries. Further below (in the upskilling vs reskilling section of the article) you’ll see stats and prediction about job loss by 2030 due to AI advancements.
What Percentage of Workers Believe Their Company Significantly Invests in Their Professional Development?
Only 47% of workers surveyed think that their company is making a significant investment in their professional development. And as you’ll see below workers who feel stuck in their education are more likely to leave their work in favor of some other employer.
On a related note less than 40% of executives are happy with their organization’s investment in their development.
How Many People Globally Will Need Reskilling by 2030?
The world will need to reskill more than 1 billion people by 2030.
What Percentage of the Workforce Requires New Skills to Perform Their Jobs?
58% of the workforce needs new skills to get their jobs done. The requirement for getting new skills grew rapidly ever since OpenAI introduced their seemingly all-capable ad miraculous ChatGPT to the market in November 30, 2022.
By What Percentage Have Job Skill Sets Changed Since 2015, and How Much is This Expected to Increase by the end of Decade?
The skill sets for jobs have changed by around 25% since 2015, expected to double (50%) by 2027, and to triple (75%) by 2030.
What Percentage of Companies Worldwide are Having Difficulty Finding Skilled Workers?
54% of companies globally are struggling to find skilled workers. The solution to this is to provide upskilling opportunities to the workers they already have; but also to work with schools and universities to provide students and future workforce experiential learning opportunities.
What Percentage of CEOs Expressed Concern About Key Skill Availability?
74% of CEOs were concerned about the availability of key skills. This high level of concern among CEOs indicates that skills shortages are a top-level business issue. And an issue likely to grow as AI uproots traditional education and job market.
What Percentage of HR Professionals Believe Their Company Underuses Onboarding?
HR professionals strongly believe in onboarding. 21% of them said outstanding onboarding helped their organization meet revenue goals. And effective onboarding makes employees much happier workers. 49% of HR professionals claim new hires that received proper onboarding are much more productive and happier at work.
And yet more than 76% of HR professionals feel their company underutilizes onboarding and 36% of them think inadequate technology leaves them unable to streamline onboarding processes
What Fraction of Employees Believe Onboarding Helps with Cultural Integration?
Around 4 in 5 employees (~80%) believe onboarding programs help them integrate and understand company culture better.
Beyond onboarding, 77% of employees believe easy access to information helps keep them productive and engaged.
What Percentage of Companies Invest Nothing in Onboarding?
More than 93% of employers believe onboarding is critical in an employee’s decision to stay or leave.
And yet 35% of companies have no formal onboarding program. They literally spend $0 on onboarding and their workforce suffers because of it.
What Percentage of New Hires Feel Information Overload During Onboarding?
81% of new hires feel overwhelmed with information during onboarding. This high percentage indicates a common problem in onboarding processes- information overload.
What is the Expected Duration of the Onboarding Process for New Hires?
New hires are expected to have an onboarding timeline of two weeks. During the onboarding process new hires are given between 10 and 40 tasks to complete on average.
What Percentage of High-Performing, Satisfied Employees Experienced Streamlined Onboarding?
70% of employees who liked and excelled at their jobs had a streamlined onboarding experience.
And yet only 12% of employees feel their organization provides a good onboarding program.
By How Much Does Good Onboarding Improve Long-Term Job Satisfaction?
The average onboarding cost is $1830 per hire. This sounds like a big investment per employee, but the upside is that a good onboarding experience improves long-term job satisfaction by more than 2.6 times.
And happy workers are more productive and better at their jobs. They also stay longer which cuts the potential cost of hiring and onboarding new employees (For jobs paying less than £30,000 per year, replacing staff costs 16% of the annual salary).
It also brings the necessary stability into the organization.
Employee Retention Statistics
What is the Average Employee Turnover Rate in the UK?
The UK average employee turnover rate is 15%. Over 40,000 searches are made each month in Google UK for “resignation letter template” as of 2025. 15% of people who resign state feeling “unmotivated” as a reason
By What Percentage Can Proper Onboarding Improve a Company’s Retention Rate?
Onboarding improves a company’s retention rate by 82% when done properly.
What Percentage of Employees Believe They Can Find Better-Paying Jobs Elsewhere?
65% of employees are confident they can find a better position elsewhere that offers more compensation.
What Percentage of Employees are More Likely to Stay Long-Term After Great Onboarding?
69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding. 23% of employees who quit within 6 months say clear guidelines on responsibilities would have helped them stay.
Remote Working Statistics
What Percentage of Onboarding is Conducted Digitally?
60% of onboarding takes place digitally. This statistic reflects the growing trend towards digital onboarding processes.
But there are hiccups as well. 39% of employees received the right level of support during remote onboarding, but 18% received no support at all. 43% received mediocre support that was still better than nothing (their words).
Note: another crucial stat here is that employees who received comprehensive onboarding were 18% more likely to feel satisfied with their job than those that didn’t.
Also, employees who feel their skills are not being put to good use are 10 times more likely to be looking for a new job.
By What Percentage Has the Number of Remote Employees Increased in the Past Five Years?
The number of employees working in a remote capacity has grown by 44% in the last five years.
How Much More Productive are Virtual Employees Compared to In-Office Workers?
Virtual employees are 35% to 40% more productive than their in-office counterparts. This stat strongly suggest that all work that can be done online should be done online. The work that has to be done in the real word should stay there.
And the good news is that employees love online work. According to a different study 39% of employees would take another job if they could work entirely remotely
What Percentage of Companies Provide Hardware to Help Employees Onboard and Work Remotely?
58% of companies have provided hardware to help employees onboard and work remotely.
Stats Around Digital Skills
What Percentage of Workers Report Negative Impacts from Lacking Digital Skills?
58% of workers said that a lack of digital skills has affected them negatively in the workplace.
This stat highlights the urgent need for digital upskilling initiatives to improve employee effectiveness and job satisfaction.
What Percentage of Young People Believe Digital Skills are Essential for Their Careers?
88% of young people (aged 16-24) think that digital skills will be essential to their careers. And these young people are right. Digital skill ownership is crucial for everyone on the job market in 2025 and beyond.
How Many Jobs Will Be Displaced and Created by 2025 Due to Economic Uncertainty and Digitization?
By 2025, COVID-19-related economic uncertainty as well as increased digitization will result in 85 million displaced jobs worldwide and create 97 million new ones.
Skills Gap Statistics
What Percentage of Business Leaders Report a Widening Skills Gap in Their Workforce?
46% of business leaders said the skills gap has been wider at their organization since 2021. This statistic suggests that the skills gap is an increasing concern for many organizations. And this effect will explode now that AI is taking over the job market in an unprecedented way. People will need to master using AI to stay relevant on the job market.
On a related note, in a recent survey (which I link in the footer of this page) 87% of executives said they were experiencing skill gaps in the workforce or expected them within a few years
What Percentage of HR Leaders Struggled with Recruitment in the Past Year?
83% of HR leaders reported trouble recruiting suitable candidates in the preceding 12 months. This stat suggest there’s a shortage of qualified workforce on the market. 75% of HR leaders reporting recruitment difficulties said there was a skills shortage among job applicants.
Reskilling vs Upskilling Statistics
How Many Workers Will Require Reskilling in the Near Future?
Thanks to the rapid advancement of AI, the world will need to reskill more than 1 billion people by 2030. Up to 1.4 million workers will need reskilling by 2026.
Here’s a example from a developed Western economy. An estimated 20% of the workforce in the UK will be significantly underskilled for their jobs by 2030.
What Percentage of L&D Professionals Believe Reskilling is More Cost-Effective Than New Hires?
79% of L&D professionals agree that it is less expensive to reskill a current employee than to hire a new one. And 74% of organizations say reskilling their workforce is important or very important to their success over the next 12-18 months.
What Proportion of Organizations Expect Significant Workforce Skill Changes in the Next Three Years?
Just over half (51%) say that between half and all their workforce will need to change their skills and capabilities in the next three years. This change will be driven by the rapid advancements in the AI field and the need to upskill and reskill to stay relevant.
What Percentage of Employee Job Types are at Risk of Becoming Obsolete?
For up to 70% of employees, their job type will cease to exist by 2030. This is largely because AI will replace them and take over their current jobs.
The same study showed that 74% of employees are ready to learn new skills or re-train to remain employable in the future
Learning and Development Statistics Facts and Trends for 2024 (Conclusion)
My updated guide for 2024 lists the best and latest statistics, facts and trends about learning and development.
I hope you enjoyed it because the guide is now over.
During my research, I consulted these resources below:
References:
- Employee Training Statistics, Trends, and Data in 2024- https://www.devlinpeck.com/content/employee-training-statistics
- Employee Development Statistics You Need to Know Right Now- https://www.deel.com/blog/employee-development-statistics/
- 100+ Learning and Development Statistics To Help Guide Your Strategy- https://buildempire.co.uk/learning-and-development-statistics/
- LinkedIn 2019 Talent Trends: Soft Skills, Transparency and Trust- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/linkedin-2019-talent-trends-soft-skills-transparency-trust-bersin/
- Why Skills-Based Hiring is on the Rise- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-skills-based-hiring-rise-hulkhire/
- Why U.S. Talent Shortages Are At A 10-Year High- https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinecastrillon/2021/09/22/why-us-talent-shortages-are-at-a-ten-year-high/#:~:text=Attracting%20and%20retaining%20skilled%20workers,highest%20in%20over%20a%20decade.
- Soft skills statistics in the UK in 2022- https://www.ciphr.com/infographics/soft-skills-statistics
- https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/taking-a-skills-based-approach-to-building-the-future-workforce
- Employee Training Statistics: The Value of Good Training- https://www.intellum.com/resources/blog/employee-training-statistics
- 27 Surprising Employee Development Statistics You Haven’t Heard Of- https://blog.clearcompany.com/27-surprising-employee-development-statistics-you-dont-know
- 90+ Employee Training Statistics in 2024: Investing in Employee Development- https://www.myshortlister.com/insights/employee-training-statistics
- 3 Ways to Boost Retention Through Professional Development- https://hbr.org/2022/04/3-ways-to-boost-retention-through-professional-development
- 7 Learning and Development Statistics You Should Know- https://www.workramp.com/blog/learning-and-development-statistics/
- Mind-blowing Statistics that Prove the Value of Employee Training and Development- https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/statistics-value-of-employee-training-and-development
- Improve Work Performance With a Focus on Employee Development- https://www.gallup.com/workplace/269405/high-performance-workplaces-differently.aspx
- 33 employee training statistics and trends to level up in 2024- https://www.mentimeter.com/blog/training/employee-training-statistics
- Workplace learning and development – statistics & facts- https://www.statista.com/topics/4281/workplace-learning-and-development/
- 5 reasons why learning and development is so important for organizations in 2024- https://corp.kaltura.com/blog/learning-and-development-importance/
- Why Learning And Development Is Now A Competitive Differentiator- https://www.forbes.com/sites/markcperna/2022/04/12/why-learning–development-is-now-a-competitive-differentiator-and-how-to-get-on-board/
- 63 Impressive Employee Training & Development Statistics (2024)- https://whatfix.com/blog/employee-training-statistics/
Nikola Roza
Nikola Roza is a blogger behind Nikola Roza- SEO for the Poor and Determined. He writes for bloggers who don't have huge marketing budget but still want to succeed. Nikola is passionate about precious metals IRAs and how to invest in gold and silver for a safer financial future. Learn about Nikola here.