Your workforce is worried…and they should be.
According to a national survey by Strategic Education, 50% of full-time U.S. workers are concerned they won’t gain the skills needed to advance their careers, despite 74% reporting access to employer-provided upskilling opportunities (Strategic Education, 2024).
It’s not a lack of training. It’s a crisis of effectiveness.
If your organization is offering learning opportunities—but your people are still anxious about their future—it’s a sign your strategy isn’t working. In 2025, that gap between access and impact is where engagement, innovation, and retention go to die.
The 2025 Skills Crisis by the Numbers
- 91% believe employers should invest in continuing education, up from 83% just two years ago (Strategic Education, 2024)
- 93% say acquiring new skills improves their motivation, and 48% say it increases their likelihood of staying with the company (Strategic Education, 2024)
- 70% of corporate leaders report a significant skills gap that’s stalling growth and innovation (Springboard Workforce Skills Gap Trends Report, 2024)
- 81% of workers expect increased layoffs in 2025, and 52% predict burnout will worsen (MyPerfectResume, The Great Stay Report, Dec 2024)
- 50% of full-time U.S. workers fear they won’t gain the skills they need to advance — even though they have access to training (Strategic Education, 2024)
The Real Problem Isn’t Access — It’s Alignment
If 74% of workers have access to training, but only 50% believe it’s helping them grow, the disconnect isn’t volume — it’s value.
Leaders need to ask:
- Is our education strategy tied to employee goals?
- Are we measuring outcomes like internal mobility or engagement?
- Do our managers reinforce learning or ignore it?
In most cases, education feels bolted on, not built in. That needs to change.
What a 2025-Ready Learning Strategy Looks Like
- Career-Linked Learning: Employees don’t want training for training’s sake. They want learning that leads to growth. Yet, only 29% of employers offer tuition reimbursement (SHRM, 2024), despite demand rising every year.
- Flexible, Modular Options: A 2024 survey found that 91% of employees prefer flexible, self-paced programs that fit their schedule and personal goals (InStride Workforce Education Report, 2024).
- Outcomes Over Inputs: It’s not about how many hours were logged. It’s about what changed. Did learning impact productivity? Morale? Promotion readiness?
- Manager Involvement: Only 38% of employees say their managers support their learning goals (Degreed, 2023). That’s a missed opportunity to turn knowledge into culture.
Why Most Companies Still Get It Wrong
- Over-indexing on one-size-fits-all training
- Under-investing in self-directed, credential-based learning
- Not connecting education to business outcomes
- Failing to follow through after courses end
Without a clear connection between learning and leadership, training becomes just another expense, rather than a culture-shaping advantage.
The Fast Attack Leadership Connection
High-speed, high-change environments demand leaders who can learn fast, act decisively, and lead from the edge of the organization. That’s where continuing education and elite leadership systems intersect.
Marc Koehler’s Fast Attack Leadership framework turns training into transformation by helping teams:
- Build readiness under stress
- Make high-stakes decisions without full information
- Align learning with mission-critical execution
- Empower every level of the org to lead, not just follow
In short: learning fuels agility. But leadership systems must ignite that learning into action.
Book Marc Koehler for Your 2025 Leadership Summit
If your company is investing in learning but still struggling to adapt, align, or advance, it’s time for a reset.
Marc Koehler’s Fast Attack Leadership keynote offers a high-impact, story-driven experience that equips your leaders to think faster, decide smarter, and lead bolder — with continuing education as a key lever.
Book Marc now at marckoehlerspeaks.com
Because in 2025, knowledge isn’t power. Execution is.
Sources
- Strategic Education, Inc. (2024). National Skills Survey
- Springboard (2024). Workforce Skills Gap Trends Report
- InStride (2024). Workforce Education Motivations Report
- MyPerfectResume (2024). The Great Stay Report
- SHRM (2024). Tuition Assistance Programs Overview
- Degreed (2023). Learning Linked to Performance Study