Chennai, India, January 15, 2025 – Employers that invest in continued learning and on-the-job development stand to reap bottom-line benefits that go beyond having a well-prepared workforce. According to the first study in ADP Research’s refreshed “People at Work 2025” report series, only a quarter (24%) of the global workforce is confident they have the skills needed to advance to the next job level in the near future, while just 17 percent of workers strongly agree their employers are investing in the skills they need for career advancement.
India shows slightly better results in these areas, with 37 percent of workers confident in their skills for career progression and approximately one-third (32%) feeling that their employers are investing in their skill development.
When examining the data by gender, 40 percent of women expressed confidence in their skills for career advancement, compared to 36 percent of men. Conversely, while 37 percent of women believe their employers invest in the skills necessary for career growth, only 29 percent of men share this sentiment.
For employers, the need to prioritize skills development is deeper than building a workforce that keeps pace with today’s dynamic workplace. ADP Research’s analysis found providing employees with the skills of tomorrow is correlated to productivity, retention and reputation.
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“Our research shows that a skilled workforce is more loyal to their employers—and more productive. Yet only a small fraction of workers are upskilled within two years of being hired,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist, ADP. “If companies want to benefit from the enormous technological advancement to come, they must start with investing in the skills and career progression of their workers.”
The skills development analysis launches “People at Work 2025,” ADP Research’s annual lens into the world of work that has been given a data refresh in 2025 in addition to being revamped as a series of reports on various workplace topics. The refreshed report is built on workplace data and topics from ADP Research’s Global Workforce Survey which has been conducted since 2015. “People at Work” provides comprehensive worker sentiment on how workers feel and think, as well as what they expect from their employer, with a purpose to empower employers to meet challenges and capitalize on opportunities amid a rapidly changing world of work.
The Untapped Potential of Workers
In the first installment of the “People at Work 2025” report series, the ADP Research team examined the impact of skills development learned through on-the-job training and found most workers think their employers could be doing better when it comes to skills development. The analysis further finds the business opportunity that comes with building out comprehensive training programs that help ensure employees are prepared for tomorrow’s world of work. “We found that education is not enough to fill the skills gap,” said Mary Hayes, research director of People & Performance at ADP Research. “Only 24 percent of workers are confident that they have the skills needed to advance in the next three years of their careers. The world of work is changing at light speed, and organizations need to do their part to close the skills gap.”
Other key findings include:
- The opportunity to get ahead is important, and not just for workers. When workers globally were asked to provide the top reasons why they would stay with their employer, the opportunity for career advancement is second only to flexibility in scheduling.
- Workers who feel strongly their employer is providing the training they need are nearly 6 times more likely to recommend their company as a great place to work.
- These same workers are also 3.3 times more likely to describe themselves as highly-productive.
- They’re also twice as likely to say they have no intent to leave their organization compared to workers who have the skills but lack on-the-job training opportunities.
- Cycle workers, those that do similar repetitive tasks daily, in particular have a dismal view of employer investment, with only 9 percent of men and 7 percent of women expressing satisfaction in their upskilling opportunities.
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