The ASTD's 2005 State of the Industry Report surveyed 281 public and private U.S. organizations of varying sizes and industries on how they invested in and delivered learning to their employees in 2004. Among the findings:

• The annual training expenditure per employee was $955;
• Employees received 32 hours of learning;
• Training delivery via learning technologies increased to 28 percent, up from 24 percent in 2003;
• Profession- or industry-specific content was allocated the most learning content. Managerial/supervisory training and business processes were the second and third largest content areas.
• Average expenditure as a percentage of payroll remained steady at 2.34 percent;
• The percentage of expenditure for external services averaged 27 percent. The services most frequently purchased externally were technology infrastructure and content design, development, and delivery.

"The perception of the value of learning in driving organizational performance is increasing, as is the level of investing in learning," said Brenda Sugrue, Senior Director of Research for ASTD and author of the ASTD 2005 State of the Industry Report. "More so than ever before, an organization's learning function is being run like any other business function with increased attention on operational efficiency, accountability, and connection to organizational strategy," she said.