My last few trips to the grocery store produced some “sticker shock,” with the small number of items in my cart inversely proportional to my bill. With rising costs and belt-tightening seemingly all around us, I was worried that organizations might be doing some trimming of their own in the learning and development area. Fortunately, that does not appear to be the case, based on Training magazine’s 2022 Training Industry Report, which saw U.S. training expenditures surpassing the $100 billion-mark for the first time.
While some of the increased investment in training and development can be attributed to inflation, there are indications that companies are beginning to return to in-person learning in some form. For example, expenditures on training-related travel, facilities, equipment, etc., rebounded to nearly pre-pandemic levels at $28.3 billion.
We’re happy to note that our in-person TechLearn 2022 Conference—held for the first time in Austin, TX—was our best attended fall event in decades. As one L&D professional noted, “After attending TechLearn, I now have amazing connections with like-minded people I can ask for advice, questions, anything!” Click here to read the wrap-up. And here to read about the Innovations in Training co-located experience. And find out here about the 2022 GamiCon Throwdown Competition winners.
The in-person networking continues at our 2023 Training Conference & Expo taking place February 13-15, 2023 (https://www.trainingconference.com). The Learning Force is strong in Orlando!
A big thank you to one of Training magazine’s long-time learning forces, Roy Saunderson, who has written our Talent Tips column for 10-plus years and now will be enjoying his much-deserved retirement. We deeply appreciate his valuable insights and commitment to Training all these years. Roy’s colleague, Dr. Jack Wiley, will take over the column starting with the March 2023 print issue.
In the meantime, best wishes for a happy, healthy, joyous holiday season! See you in 2023!