Organizational spending on learning and development stayed relatively stable with a slight decrease from last year according to the findings of ASTD's 2012 State of the Industry Report. Organizations in the United States spent $156.2 billion on employee learning in 2011, down from $171.5 billion in 2010, which represented the height of spending on employee learning since ASTD began collecting data in 2001.

ASTD's 2012 State of the Industry Report is based on a survey of 461 organizations representing a diverse sample of industry, size, and location. For comparative analysis, findings are reported for three data sources: a consolidated source of all organizations; a data source pulling from the 30 BEST® Award winning organizations, and a data source reflecting 27 Fortune Global 500 organizations.

Overall, the State of the Industry Report demonstrates that despite current economic challenges, senior executives understand that a highly skilled workforce is a strategic differentiator and they are investing in the development of their employees. Key findings are:

• A total of $156.2 billion was spent on learning and development in 2011.

• Of the total expenditures, 56 percent were on internal expenses ($86.5 billion).

• Per-employee spending decreased 4 percent ($1,228 in 2010 to $1,182, in 2011).

• Expenditure on tuition reimbursement increased 11 percent (12.9 percent in 2010 to 14.3 percent in 2011) for consolidated.

• Direct expenditure on learning as a percent of payroll increased from 2.7 to 3.2 percent for consolidated.

• BEST organizations delivered more training (14 hours more per employee) than the consolidated average.

• Technology-based delivery of instruction rose from 29.2 percent in 2010 to 38.5 percent in 2011.

• Managerial and supervisory training was the most offered content (12.6 percent), followed by profession- or industry-specific content (11.6 percent), and mandatory and compliance content (10.6 percent).

A digital version (PDF) of the ASTD 2012 State of the Industry Report is free to ASTD members. A print version is also available for purchase. The report can be downloaded or purchased on the ASTD Store.