IT training spans formal courses, informal learning, workplace requirements and online platforms. The statistics below distinguish observed participation from employer expectations, identify populations and geographies, and separate U.S. measures from global survey estimates.
Key IT Training Statistics
These are the most useful headline figures for understanding IT training participation, demand and outcomes:
- In the BLS survey period reported by its table, 84.4% of U.S. employees in establishments with 50 or more employees received formal training while with their current employer.
- In the same U.S. BLS table, 38.4% of employees received formal training in computer procedures, programming or software while with their current employer.
- In the same population, 54.3% received informal computer procedures, programming or software training while with their current employer.
- In 2025, 66.8% of U.S. computer and mathematical workers required on-the-job training.
- In 2025, 71.6% of U.S. computer and mathematical workers required prior work experience.
- In the 2025 WEF employer survey, 50% of the represented workforce had completed training, up from 41% in the 2023 edition.
- For 2025–2030, 59 out of 100 workers are projected to need reskilling or upskilling globally.
- For 2025–2030, 85% of surveyed global employers plan to prioritize workforce upskilling.
- By 2030, 62% of information and technology services workers are expected to need further training.
- By 2030, 86% of surveyed global employers expect AI and information-processing technologies to transform their business.
- By 2030, 77% of surveyed global employers plan to reskill or upskill existing workers to work more effectively alongside AI.
- In the 2025 WEF Executive Opinion Survey, 50% of global executives identified lack of skills as a top barrier to AI adoption.
- For 2025–2030, 77% of WEF respondents cited enhanced productivity as an expected outcome of training investment.
- In LinkedIn Learning’s 2024 report, fewer than 5% of large-scale upskilling programs had advanced far enough to measure success each year.
- In 2024, 58% of L&D professionals said L&D had a seat at the table, compared with 54% in 2023 and 53% in 2022.
- In LinkedIn’s 2024 cohort comparison, learners who set career goals engaged with LinkedIn Learning four times more than learners who did not set goals three months after account initiation in February 2023.
- Coursera reported more than 148 million learners and 7,000 institutional customers for its 2024 Global Skills Report dataset.
- On Coursera, global GenAI course enrollments increased 1,060% year over year in the 2024 report.
Contents
- IT training participation and formal learning data
- Computer and mathematical occupation training requirements
- Workforce upskilling trends through 2030
- AI, cybersecurity and digital-skills priorities
- IT training funding and business outcomes
- Career development and online learning statistics
IT Training Participation and Formal Learning Data
The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides a broad U.S. baseline for employer-provided training among employees in establishments with at least 50 employees. Its table combines all formal and informal training, so the computer-related category is the closest directly IT-specific measure rather than a complete measure of IT training.
| Training measure | Share of employees | Scope and period |
|---|---|---|
| Formal training while with current employer | 84.4% | U.S.; establishments with 50+ employees; BLS survey period reported by table |
| Formal training in the last 12 months | 69.8% | Same U.S. employee population and table period |
| Informal training while with current employer | 95.8% | Same U.S. employee population and table period |
| Formal computer procedures, programming or software training | 38.4% | Same U.S. employee population and table period |
| Computer procedures, programming or software training in last 12 months | 23.5% | Same U.S. employee population and table period |
| Informal computer procedures, programming or software training | 54.3% | Same U.S. employee population and table period |
Source: BLS, Table 1. Percent of employees who received training by type of training. The categories are employee-reported and broader than dedicated IT occupations or courses.
The time window matters: 69.8% refers to formal training within the last 12 months, while 84.4% covers training received at any point with the current employer. Informal learning is also broader than IT, although the computer procedures, programming or software category gives a useful view of workplace technology learning.
Computer and Mathematical Occupation Training Requirements
The BLS Occupational Requirements Survey measures what jobs require, not whether workers attended or completed a course. In 2025, on-the-job training and prior experience were common requirements for U.S. computer and mathematical workers.
| Occupational requirement or characteristic | Share | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| On-the-job training required | 66.8% | Job requirement in 2025 |
| Prior work experience required | 71.6% | Job requirement in 2025 |
| Bachelor’s degree required | 52.3% | Required education level in 2025 |
| More than basic people skills required | 98.5% | Skill requirement in 2025 |
| Speaking required | More than 99.5% | Skill requirement in 2025 |
| Telework routinely allowed | 62.8% | Work arrangement in 2025 |
Source: BLS, Computer and mathematical occupations. The survey also reports that 94.4% could pause work for brief unscheduled breaks and that workers spent 8.9% of the workday standing on average; these are occupational context, not training measures.
The distinction is important for interpreting IT training statistics. A requirement for on-the-job training does not prove completion, and a degree or experience requirement is not equivalent to continuing professional development.
Workforce Upskilling Trends Through 2030
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs 2025 figures are employer-survey results and forward-looking expectations. They describe a global scenario for 2025–2030 rather than an observed census of every worker.
- 50% of the workforce represented by WEF respondents had completed training in 2025, compared with 41% in the 2023 edition.
- WEF projects that 59 out of 100 workers will need reskilling or upskilling by 2030; within that scenario, 29 out of 100 are projected to be upskilled in their current roles and 19 out of 100 to be upskilled and redeployed elsewhere within their organization.
- 11 out of 100 workers are projected to be unlikely to receive the needed training by 2030, according to the same employer-expectation scenario.
- 63% of employers identify skills gaps as a major barrier to business transformation, while 85% plan to prioritize workforce upskilling over 2025–2030.
- 70% of employers expect to hire staff with new skills, 50% plan to transition staff from declining to growing roles, and 40% expect to reduce staff as skills become less relevant over 2025–2030.
The regional and industry estimates show why a single global training rate can obscure differences:
| Population | Expected to require training | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Companies headquartered in North America | 67% of workforce | By 2030 |
| Telecommunications workers | 63% | By 2030 |
| Information and technology services workers | 62% | By 2030 |
Source: World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report 2025: Skills outlook. These are employer estimates and forecasts, not observed completion rates.
AI, Cybersecurity and Digital-Skills Training Priorities
AI-related training is increasingly framed as both a technology skill issue and a workforce-transition issue. WEF’s workforce-strategy findings capture planned employer responses, while its executive survey identifies perceived barriers to adoption.
| AI-related employer expectation | Share | Period and population |
|---|---|---|
| AI and information-processing technologies transform business | 86% | Global employers; by 2030 |
| Reskill or upskill existing workers to work alongside AI | 77% | Global employers; by 2030 |
| Recruit talent skilled in AI-tool design and enhancement | 69% | Global employers; by 2030 |
| Hire people with skills to work with AI | 62% | Global employers; by 2030 |
| Transition employees from AI-disrupted roles | 47% | Global organizations; by 2030 |
| Downsize as AI capabilities expand | 41% | Global employers; by 2030 |
Source: World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report 2025: Workforce strategies. These figures describe plans or expectations, not completed training or observed workforce outcomes.
In the 2025 WEF Executive Opinion Survey, 50% of executives worldwide identified lack of skills as a top AI-adoption barrier. Other reported barriers were lack of vision among managers and leaders at 43%, high AI product and service costs at 29%, lack of customization to local business needs at 24%, and complex AI and data-use regulations at 21%.
The dataset does not provide a standalone cybersecurity-training participation rate. That absence is itself a reason to avoid treating AI hiring or digital-skills forecasts as direct evidence of cybersecurity course completion.
IT Training Funding and Business Outcomes
Training investment is often justified through productivity, competitiveness and retention, but the available measures are usually expectations or self-reported practices. For 2025–2030, 77% of WEF respondents cited enhanced productivity as an expected outcome and 70% cited improved competitiveness.
More than 72% of employers in automotive and aerospace, electronics, and consumer-goods production identified talent retention as a key training outcome. More than 30% of companies in accommodation, food and leisure; government and public sector; and education and training expected to rely on public financing for training, compared with 3% of insurance and pensions-management companies.
LinkedIn Learning’s 2024 analysis highlights the measurement gap: fewer than 5% of large-scale upskilling programs had advanced far enough to measure success each year. Among L&D professionals, 36% tracked business impact through performance reviews, 34% through employee productivity and 31% through employee retention.
Source: World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report 2025: Skills outlook and LinkedIn, 2024 Workplace Learning Report. The WEF outcomes are expected results, while LinkedIn’s figures describe reported measurement practices and a platform-based analysis.
Career Development and Online Learning Statistics
Career development provides a broader setting for IT learning because training may be linked to mobility, mentoring or explicit goals. LinkedIn reported that L&D had a seat at the table for 58% of L&D professionals in 2024, compared with 54% in 2023 and 53% in 2022.
About 40% of organizations had mature career-development initiatives that invest in programs yielding positive business results under LinkedIn’s classification. Within that subgroup, 68% had online learning programs; across surveyed organizations, 70% used leadership-development programs, 58% shared internal job postings, 57% used mentorship programs, 49% used individual career plans and 44% used internal mobility.
The same report found that learners who set career goals engaged with LinkedIn Learning four times more than learners who did not set goals, measured three months after account initiation in February 2023. This was a non-randomized cohort comparison, and engagement means time spent learning rather than proven job or business impact.
LinkedIn also reported that 91% of L&D professionals believed soft skills were increasingly important, while 90% of organizations were concerned about employee retention; the report identified learning opportunities as its number-one retention strategy, a ranking rather than causal evidence.
Coursera’s 2024 Global Skills Report used a platform population of more than 148 million learners and 7,000 institutional customers. On that platform, the GenAI course sign-up rate was four times higher in 2024 than in 2023, global GenAI course enrollments increased 1,060% year over year, and enrollments in Latin America and the Caribbean increased 882% year over year.
Source: LinkedIn, 2024 Workplace Learning Report and Coursera, Presenting the 2024 Coursera Global Skills Report. Platform activity describes those services’ users and cannot be generalized to all IT training worldwide.