Dive Brief:

• The top three industries served by learning technology providers are the technology, financial services and "Pharmaceutical/Chemical/Life Science" industries, according to a Dec. 17 study by RedThread Research.
• The study also measured the growth of the learning technology space over the past two years. It found that the customer base for learning tech has doubled since 2018 and that the number of new vendors in the space has increased each year.
• The study said learning tech is aimed at four major organizational talent goals: upskilling, internal mobility, learning on the job and coaching.

Dive Insight:

The coronavirus pandemic has increased the rate of adoption for enterprise technology across the board, and learning was no exception. An August survey from the Association for Talent Development found that e-learning is now present at almost all organizations (99%). That said, a November report from Kahoot found that 66% of employees felt their companies did not improve workplace training during the pandemic.

Despite the recent spikes, learning technology was trending up before the pandemic as well. ATD recently shared that over half of learning hours in 2019 occurred via tech platforms, and the study by RedThread Research saw sharp increases in customers (33%), revenue (31%) and functionality from 2018 to 2019. 

The proliferation of remote work has made employees more "trainable," according to McKinsey. Of the subjects most popular for training, technology skills such as programming and artificial intelligence were the primary focus, according to recent data shared by Coursera. However, the pandemic and shift to remote work has also placed an increased emphasis on resilience, stress management, and other similar skills.

As a new year begins, talent development remains more important than ever. According to multiple sources, continuous upskilling, remote training and an increased focus on outcomes and measurement highlight the trends for this space in 2021.