Win-win for organisations that invest in employees’ skills development
New report covering global workforce highlights the bottom-line benefits that organisations reap when employers invest in continued learning and on-the-job development
Employers that invest in on-the-job development can build a more highly skilled workforce, resulting in their teams potentially being more productive and loyal to the organisation.
That is one of the headline findings from the People at Work 2025 Report, which draws on data covering skills development from the ADP Research Global Worker Survey 2024.
The research, which defines employees as knowledge workers (those who have a level of freedom to use their expertise to create something new); skilled-task workers (those who use a level of expertise to solve similar problems each day); and cycle workers (those who do similar repetitive tasks each day), drew the same conclusion on employer investment.
Looking across the three worker types, ADP found that all worker types, no matter the complexity of their job, are more likely to remain with their organisation when they receive skills training.
This not only reduces the high cost of staff turnover, but also results in improved reputations and higher productivity, the data reveals.
However, in ADP’s latest report, most global workers felt their employers could do better when it comes to upskilling. Only 17% strongly agreed that their employers were investing in the skills they needed to advance their career.
‘The opportunity to get ahead is important, and not just for workers,’ notes the report.
‘When our survey respondents were asked to provide the top reasons why they would stay with their employer, the opportunity for career advancement was second only to flexibility in scheduling.’
According to the data, 54% of workers who felt strongly that their employers were investing in their skills development had recently been promoted.
However, this promotion rate fell to only 34% among those who felt their employers had not provided upskilling opportunities.
Elsewhere, the survey shows that workers who feel strongly that their employer is providing the training they need are nearly six times more likely to recommend their employer as a great place to work.
When looking at the different worker types, the report reveals that even for those workers who are confident in their skills, receiving on-going training is linked to retention.
‘When these confident workers believe that their employers are investing in them, they’re twice as likely to say they have no intention of leaving their organisation, compared to workers who have skills but lack-on-the-job training opportunities,’ note the survey findings.
ADP found that upskilling might be a particularly ‘powerful tool’ for retaining cycle workers, who are the least satisfied worker type.
When this worker type feels they have the skills needed to advance, but lack any further investment from their employer, they’re more likely than other worker types to leave.
The survey reveals that only 8% of cycle workers strongly agreed that their employers are investing them. This is significantly lower than knowledge workers (26%) and slightly lower than skilled-task workers (14%).
Industries that are largely populated by knowledge workers such as technology services, finance and insurance, and professional, scientific and technical services, are perhaps unsurprisingly the same industries where the workers surveyed feel most-skills ready.
The ADP’s People at Work 2025 Report also reveals some notable differences between the male and female workforce.
Male workers are more likely than their female counterparts to strongly agree that they have the skills needed to advance, the data reveals.
The biggest gender gap is reflected among the cycle worker type. The survey shows that 18% of men and 13% of women in this group, respectively, believe that they’re equipped for their next job.
However, both sexes in this worker type share a ‘dismal view’ of employer investment in their skills. Only 9% of men and 7% of women, respectively, expressed satisfaction in their upskilling opportunities.
When the survey analysed market data for different market regions and compared selected countries within and across these market regions, it found some interesting variations.
For example, when asked whether they have the skills needed to advance their career to the next job level in the next three years, the share of workers who strongly agreed with this statement scored the highest in three countries in the Middle East/Africa region: Nigeria (45%), Egypt (44%) and South Africa (42%) respectively.
This compares with only 3% in Japan, 9% in South Korea and 10% in Taiwan, respectively, in the Asia-Pacific market. In Europe, the UK topped the table with 22%, the same percentage as Canada which topped the North American table. Brazil, which topped the Latin American table, scored 37%; the same percentage as India, which came first in the Asia-Pacific table.
When asked whether their employer invests in the skills they need to advance their career in the future, there was a slight change in the ordering, with the share of Indian workers who strongly agree with this statement coming top with 32%. Japan (2%) and South Korea (5%) scored the lowest.
The survey also looked at different age groups and found that the share of workers who strongly agree that their employer invests in the skills they need to advance their career scored highest in the 27-39 age group (20%), nearly double the percentage of the 55-64 age group.
When asking the same question across different industries, the survey findings reveal that technology services score the highest with 25%. This compares with 12% for transportation and warehousing, the lowest scoring industry.
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People at Work 2025 Report stats
- Just 3.8% of workers learn new skills on the job within two years of being hired
- 25% of workers feel highly confident they have the skills to advance
- Nearly 75% of workers leave an employer before ever getting promoted
- 17% strongly agree that their employers are investing in the skills they need for career advancement
- Only 18% of male cycle workers and 13% of female cycle workers believe they are equipped for their next job