Training stats. Stat!

A reader asks: Do you know or can you point me in the direction to get information regarding money spent on employee training? Basically I just want numbers like "the top companies spend $x per employee per year on training" or "for a midsized company you can expect to spend x."

Yes, I can.

The article below is from a new report (released in Feb) looks good. The attachment is interesting. Let me know if you want anything else!

This is older, but worth a glance:


Corporate Learning Budgets Rising, But Salary Spending Remains Flat, Says Bersin and Associates February 15, 2007

The corporate learning market continues to grow, with company budget increases averaging 7 percent, according to the Bersin and Associates' 2007 Corporate Learning Factbook. Total training spending grew from $51.1 billion in 2005 to $55.8 billion in 2006; spending on products and services grew from $13.5 billion in 2005 to $15.8 billion in 2006. While budgets have increased, salary spending over the last four years has remained relatively flat.

In 2005, 73 cents of every training dollar went to payroll expenses; in 2006, payroll expenses were 65 cents of every dollar.

Other findings from the study include:

• Learning technologies are widely used by companies of all sizes.
• Almost 60% of respondents use virtual classroom technologies, 40% have learning management systems, 25 to 30% use application simulation and rapid e-learning tools, and 14% use learning content management systems.
• The average spending per learner is $1,273. The highest spending sector is technology ($2,763) and the lowest is retail ($519).
• When it comes to learning programs, sales training and management/supervisory training are the program priorities for most learning organizations.
• Outsourcing continues to grow, with highest planned increases in custom content development and LMS hosting.

Bersin & Associates claims the study is the most detailed and up-to-date view of corporate learning and development available. Said Karen O'Leonard, research director for the study, "Our rigorous research methodology, combined with the extensive survey database we have built over the last few years, gives us a unique ability to quantify key metrics and provide fact-supported analysis of important trends."

Time spent listening.

A reader asks: What's the average time spent on listening to radio per day among people 25-34? Has it decreased over the past 5 years?

Yes, it has. But not as dramatically as you might think. Check this out:

Time spent listening overall has decreased by 3 hours and 15 minutes per week in the past 10 years. That is a lot. But the past 5 years have slowed, with a loss of just over an hour. So the biggest changes in total listening was from 1997 through 2002.

In looking at the demographic of most interest to our reader (thanks for sending such a great question, by the way!), we've compiled the data from years of Arbitron reports. Note that 2002 is missing. The trends look a lot like the above chart - steady decreases. Notice also, that men consistently listen more than women. (click on the chart and it gets nice & big!)

Who uses the public libraries?

A loyal reader asks: Does anyone go to the library anymore?

Oh reader! As huge library fans, we hope so.

Here's what we learned.

Pew Internet (we love those guys!) just came out with a new study. Evidently, of the 53 percent of U.S. adults who said they visited a library in 2007, Gen Y-ers (18-30 year olds) are the biggest users. Shocking. The study said that compared to the older folks, Gen Y members were the most likely to use libraries for problem-solving information and in general patronage for any purpose. And these young adults also say most frequently that they will use libraries in the future.

This is a good sign for libraries.

Read the study. You'll see that computers are a huge part of the library experience these days. No big surprise. But still, we at Scherer Cybrarian love libraries and were excited to see that the trends are positive. (Note: Our local library is always packed. So anecdotally, we felt good about this already!)

Another dataset to consider:

The first annual report on the State of America’s Libraries, the American Library Association says:

• Almost 90% of Americans are satisfied with their public libraries. Most agree that public libraries are under-funded and need more support.
• Libraries are keeping up with the times—and with the public's needs.
• Libraries are experiencing great local support and are growing and adding services and enhancements, including serious connectivity. State funding has decreased, and the public support has made the difference.
  
• 1.8 billion visitors checked out more than 2 billion items from U.S. libraries in fiscal year 2004.
• Circulation and participation at American public libraries continue to rise.
• Almost 2/3 of Americans have a library card.