Canada falling behind in job training

Organizations spend an average of $914 per employee, but Canada slips to 20th in international rankings

Canadian employers are falling behind their international counterparts when it comes to employee training, according to the Conference Board of Canada.

According to Learning and Development Outlook 2005 not only are employers not investing enough, they’re failing to allocate training dollars in ways that lead to strong business performance.

“Canadian organizations have reached a plateau in their spending on training and development,” said Lawrence O’Keefe, director of human resources management research at the Conference Board. “Training is a critical component of innovation, which leads to higher levels of productivity. Organizations need to align training investments with their overall learning strategy, so the dollars spent contribute directly to meeting business goals.”

An average of $914 per employee

Canadian organizations spent an average of $914 per employee in 2004, an increase from $824 in 2003. By comparison, organizations in the United States averaged per employee expenditures of $1,135 (converted to Canadian dollars) in 2003, the most recent American data available.

The Conference Board surveyed 206 mostly medium and large-sized organizations between June and August 2004.

Canada also dropped from 12th place in 2002 to 20th in 2004 in the Institute for Management Development’s Competitiveness Survey which compares the priority that organizations place on employee training.

Canada is on par or just above some of its major trading partners, such as the U.S., the United Kingdom and France. But Scandinavian countries, Germany, Japan, Switzerland and emerging economies such as Singapore and Malaysia are placing a higher priority on training, putting Canada’s global innovation position at risk, the Conference Board said.

Finland holds top spot

Finland held onto its first-place ranking and Denmark was second. The United States came in at 23rd and Hong Kong held the 44th spot in the rankings.

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