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An Association for Talent Development (ATD) TD Executive Confidence Index revealed that talent development (TD) professionals are optimistic about the health of the TD function and expect an increase in organizational support to create and maintain a strong learning culture. Data from ATD’s 2025 State of the Industry: Talent Development Benchmarks and Trends report (SOIR) backs up this outlook.
The SOIR, which came out in May 2025 and had 539 respondents from five world regions, found that 34% of organizations increased their TD head count in 2024. According to the report, “organizations that added new TD positions increased their head count by an average of 12 positions; however, the median was five new positions, and the most common answer (the mode) was one new position. HR and OD professionals, trainers and facilitators, instructional designers, and training and TD coordinators were the most added new positions.”
Three-quarters of the TD functions are represented in their organization’s senior leadership team — that’s up from 65% in 2023.
“It’s promising to see that more organizations are realizing the importance of talent development and inviting these professionals to be contributing members of the senior leadership team,” said Rocki Basel, PhD, director of ATD research services. “This gives talent development the opportunity to make a real impact on organizational goals.”
Learning Hours
The average number of formal learning hours used per employee decreased in 2024 to 13.7, down from 17.4 in 2023. To examine this trend a little deeper, the report found that small companies — defined as organizations with fewer than 100 employees — use the most formal learning hours per employee at 21.6, and the trade, transportation and utilities industry uses the most formal learning hours per employee at 16 hours. The education and healthcare services industries is second at 12.8 hours.
The report also shows that despite the average cost per learning hour increasing to $165, the average direct expenditure per employee decreased $29 per hour to $1,254. This expenditure includes TD staff salaries, travel costs for TD staff, administrative costs, delivery costs and tuition reimbursement, and has remained relatively consistent over the last five years.
The three most common training areas are new-employee training (94%), mandatory and compliance training (94%), and managerial and supervisory training (90%). About one-third of organizations plan to increase the orientation training they offer. Managerial and supervisory training was grouped under leadership development, and the report found that 69% of organizations offered executive development training, but 90% offered managerial and supervisory training.
“In the 2024 study on leadership skills, ATD Research found that more than 90% of organizations were experiencing a major or minor skills gap in leadership skills,” the SOIR noted.
While live, instructor-led traditional classroom and virtual classroom training were still the most common training formats, organizations also used on-the-job training (mentoring, coaching, stretch assignments and job shadowing) and learning technologies (simulations and scenario-based learning, microlearning and immersive learning).
“The workforce of today supports different types of work, workers and technology,” explained Basel. “Talent development professionals have embraced these changes and created a learning culture that supports the needs of both the organization and the employees.”
Artificial Intelligence
The fastest-growing training topic was AI training. More than half of organizations offer AI training.
In 2024, 55% of organizations provided AI technical skills training, which is a 9% increase over 2023. AI technical skills training includes machine learning and programming languages.
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Organizations also increased their AI practical skills training in 2024. Fifty-five percent of organizations — an increase from 45% in 2023 — provided training on prompt writing, problem solving with AI, and AI ethics.
More than 60% of organizations expect to increase their amount of training in both areas.
“Some of the developments from this year’s State of the Industry report are here to stay, particularly the importance of AI training,” Basel said. “Nearly two-thirds of respondents reported expecting their organizations to increase both AI practical skills training and AI technical skills training in the future.”
About ATD
The Association for Talent Development (ATD) is the world’s largest professional membership organization supporting those who develop the knowledge and skills of employees, improve performance, and help to achieve results for the organizations they serve. Established in 1943, the association was previously known as the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD).
ATD’s members come from more than 100 countries and work in public and private organizations in every industry sector. ATD supports talent development professionals who gather locally in volunteer-led US chapters and international member networks and with international strategic partners.
For more information, visit td.org.
