Companies Respond to the Great Resignation With Higher L&D Budgets, Survey Finds

Today, TalentLMS, a learning management system backed by Epignosis, and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) are releasing a report about the state of learning and development (L&D). Two years into the pandemic and with the Great Resignation in full swing, two surveys conducted among HR managers and employees in the U.S. reveal the ways companies are addressing the talent shortage and skills gaps, and the training roadblocks employees face.

According to the survey, 67% of HR managers will have an increased L&D budget in 2022. Forty-six percent already have specific training in place for new graduates who are entering the workforce and 42% offer training to support the re-entry of formerly retired employees.

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“While we’re going through what’s considered the biggest talent shortage in decades, with half of companies facing a skills gap, HR managers recognize the importance of bringing different generations of workers together, and of training on both hard and soft skills,” says Christina Gialleli, Director of People Operations at Epignosis.

The report also uncovers the rising importance of mental health and well-being training for the employee experience in the post-pandemic workplace. Seventy-two percent of HR managers would invest in mental health and well-being training if they had a higher L&D budget, and 77% of HR managers are likely to focus on life skills within the next 12 months.

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While employees are overall satisfied with the learning and development in their companies (75%), the findings from the employee survey shed light on the  gaps that exist in today’s workforce. According to employees:

• 55% say they need additional training to perform better in their roles
• 38% advise companies to align training with job responsibilities, 32% believe it’s important to update training content more frequently, and 32% believe training should be more social.
• One in two employees is pursuing learning opportunities on their own, outside of training at work.

“These statistics prove how critical it is for today’s leaders to focus on talent development. The growth of our businesses depend on pushing people beyond their boundaries,” says Jeanne Morris, Vice President of Education at SHRM.

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