Training and employee retention are tied together by one number that employers keep running into: 88% of organizations are concerned about retention, and LinkedIn’s 2025 Workplace Learning Report found that learning opportunities are the top strategy they use to address it. The gap is in execution. Gallup reports that only 32% of US employees say they had opportunities to learn and grow at work in the past year (as of May 2026), and 42% of employees who voluntarily left say their manager or organization could have prevented it. In construction, the AGC 2026 Workforce Survey shows 83% of firms losing at least some new field employees in their first 90 days.
Summary / Key statistics at a glance
- 88% of organizations are concerned about employee retention, and learning is their top retention strategy (LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report, 2025).
- 42% of voluntary leavers say their manager or organization could have prevented their departure (Gallup, 2024).
- 32% of US employees had opportunities to learn and grow at work in the past year (Gallup, May 2026).
- 83% of construction firms report turnover among new field employees in their first 90 days (AGC, 2026).
- 35% of construction firms raised training spending in the past year, down from 42% in 2025 (AGC, 2026 and 2025 surveys).
- 40 hours of training per employee per year on average in the US, down from 47 a year earlier (Training Magazine, 2025 Training Industry Report).
- 90% of apprentices continue employment after completing an apprenticeship (US Department of Labor).
- 4.1 years is the median US employee tenure in January 2026, up from 3.9 in January 2024 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
- 200% of annual salary is the replacement cost of a departing leader or manager; technical professionals run 80% and frontline employees 40% (Gallup).
- 15% of employees say a manager helped them build a career plan in the past six months, down 5 points from the prior year (LinkedIn, 2025).
How Training Connects to Retention
The core argument is simple. Employees stay when they can see a future where they work, and training is the most concrete way to show it. LinkedIn’s 2025 report found that 84% of employees agree that learning adds purpose to their work, and that only 36% of organizations qualify as “career development champions” with mature programs. The other two-thirds are running limited programs or none at all.
The retention payoff is visible in the champions’ own outlook. In the same report, organizations with mature career development are markedly more confident they can hold on to talent than their peers. That confidence is earned in the details of day-to-day management, which is where most programs break down.
Manager support is the weak link. LinkedIn found that just 15% of employees say a manager helped them build a career plan in the past six months, a drop of five percentage points from the year before. Gallup’s turnover research shows what that silence costs: 45% of voluntary leavers say no manager or leader proactively discussed their job satisfaction, performance, or future in the three months before they left, and 77% either left within three months of starting a job search or never searched at all. By the time a resignation letter lands, the decision was made weeks earlier.
Gallup’s manager data points to a fix. Its 2022 manager development research found that teams led by managers who completed development training saw 21% to 28% less turnover. Separately, Gallup finds that employees who use their strengths daily are 15% less likely to quit, a finding that supports role-specific development over generic coursework.
How Much Employers Invest, and Where It Is Slipping
Companies are still spending heavily, but the commitment is thinning on one important measure. The Training Magazine 2025 Training Industry Report puts US training expenditures at $102.8 billion, up nearly 5% year over year. Average spend per learner rose to $874 from $774. Hours went the other direction: employees averaged 40 hours of training per year, down from 47 hours the prior year, a drop of roughly 15%.
More money per learner and fewer hours could mean employers are buying more targeted training, or paying more for the same content, rather than expanding access. Onboarding accounted for 11% of average training budgets in the report, and it was among the top anticipated technology purchases. That matters because the first months are when the retention risk is highest. The report also found that manufacturers and distributors carry the highest training staff payrolls across all size divisions, at $1.7 million.
Gallup’s figure of 32% of employees with a learning opportunity in the past year (May 2026) is the clearest signal of how thin the access is. It means two in three US workers did not feel they had a chance to learn and grow over the last twelve months.
Retention in the Skilled Trades: Construction, Manufacturing, Energy, and Transportation
For employers in construction, manufacturing, energy, and transportation, retention problems show up early and carry a visible cost. The AGC 2026 Workforce Survey, based on 1,830 responses collected in July and August 2026, gives the clearest picture:
- 87% of firms have openings for hourly craft workers, and 88% of those say the positions are as hard or harder to fill than a year ago.
- 83% of firms report at least some turnover among new field employees in their first 90 days.
- 42% say worker shortages, their own or their subcontractors’, have delayed projects, making labor the most commonly cited cause of delay.
- 55% increased base pay for hourly craft workers by more than they did a year earlier.
The training response is mixed. In 2026, 35% of firms initiated or increased spending on training and professional development, and 25% implemented or increased in-person, onsite craft training. In the AGC 2025 survey, 42% had increased training spending. So the share of firms leaning into training fell seven points even as early-tenure turnover stayed widespread, while more firms chose pay as their main lever.
The US Department of Labor offers the strongest counterexample. It reports that 90% of apprentices continue employment after completing an apprenticeship. For employers building construction pipelines, that is a retention rate few other hiring channels can match. Employers weighing structured on-the-job programs can look at how construction recruiting fits alongside apprenticeship and in-house training.
Younger workers are especially responsive. A Manufacturing Institute and American Psychological Association study (as of 2021) found that 69% of manufacturing workers under 25 cited training and development as a reason to stay, and 65% cited career opportunities. It also found that more than 90% of senior leaders were satisfied with training and development, versus only about two-thirds of frontline workers, a perception gap worth checking in your own plants. The study is from The Manufacturing Institute.
Turnover, Tenure, and What Replacing People Costs
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest employee tenure data in September 2026. Median tenure with a current employer was 4.1 years in January 2026, up from 3.9 years in January 2024, and the share of workers with a year or less of tenure fell to 20.6% from 22.2%. Industry gaps are wide:
| Industry | Median tenure, January 2026 |
|---|---|
| Utilities | 6.3 years |
| Manufacturing | 4.9 years |
| Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction | 4.9 years |
| Transportation and warehousing | 4.0 years |
| Construction | 3.9 years |
Utilities employers keep people more than two years longer than construction employers do at the median. Age matters too: workers ages 25 to 34 have a median tenure of just 3.0 years, versus 9.6 years for ages 55 to 64. A training investment in a 28-year-old has a short window to pay back, which is why development and career pathing belong in the first year, not the fifth.
Quits are another current signal. The BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for August 2026 (preliminary) shows 3.07 million quits across the economy, a 1.9% rate and essentially flat against 3.10 million in August 2025. Industry movement tells a different story. Manufacturing quits rose to 197,000 from 159,000 a year earlier, an increase of about 24%. Trade, transportation, and utilities quits rose to 682,000 from 611,000, up about 12%. Construction was steady at 152,000 against 150,000.
The replacement cost makes those numbers expensive. According to Gallup, replacing a leader or manager costs about 200% of salary, a technical professional about 80%, and a frontline employee about 40%. Gallup also reports that 51% of US employees were watching for or actively seeking a new job as of May 2024, so the pool of potential leavers is large.
Emerging Trends and What’s New in 2026
Training budgets are being squeezed from two sides. Hours per employee fell to 40 from 47 in the 2025 Training Industry Report, and the share of construction firms increasing training spending dropped from 42% to 35% between AGC’s 2025 and 2026 surveys. Two independent data sets pointing the same way is worth watching.
Early-tenure turnover is the construction retention problem. The AGC 2026 finding that 83% of firms lose some new field employees in the first 90 days reframes retention as an onboarding and first-quarter issue, not just a long-term career-path issue. It also lines up with the finding that onboarding was 11% of training budgets in the Training Magazine report.
Career conversations are getting rarer. LinkedIn’s 15% figure for managers helping build career plans, down five points, shows the gap widening just as Gallup reports that only 32% of US employees had a recent learning opportunity. Managers are the cheapest retention lever in the building, and Gallup’s research suggests developing them reduces turnover by 21% to 28% on their teams.
Manufacturing quits are climbing. The roughly 24% year-over-year increase in manufacturing quits in the August 2026 JOLTS data, while economy-wide quits were flat, is a reason for plant and operations leaders to check retention inputs now rather than waiting for the annual survey.
Tenure is stretching, which raises the value of training. With median tenure up to 4.1 years from 3.9 in two years, employers that train people have a longer window to see the return. Short-tenured segments, especially workers under 35 and construction, are where that return is most at risk.
How Tall Trees Talent Helps
Tall Trees Talent helps energy, construction, manufacturing, and transportation employers fill individual contributor and manager-level roles with recruiters who have worked in those industries, so the people you hire are a fit for the training and career paths you can offer. Learn more about Tall Trees Talent or explore energy recruiting to see how it works.
