Learning and Development in 2025: Key Insights and Actions

"L&D is more than a function. It's a live, reactive, and evolving organism that shifts as work, technology, and expectations shift around it. Keeping track (or even ahead) of those shifts is essential for L&D teams looking to plan, prioritize, and help employees perform at their best. But when they fall hard and fast, that's easier said than done. If 2025 felt like a redefining year for workplace learning, that's because it was."

"Over the past three years, we've surveyed thousands of HR leaders and employees through our annual L&D Benchmark Report. We've tracked the same trend lines - learning behaviors, challenges, and priorities. And, by analyzing the data, surfaced the patterns that matter, from early warning signs to deep, enduring shifts. In the latest TalentLMS 2026 Annual L&D Benchmark Report , we've brought the data together to surface trends and year-over-year training benchmarks ."

"This long-view perspective is what gives the findings their weight. They're not one-off insights or reactions to a noisy year. More importantly, they show the deeper realities shaping L&D, and the conditions every team will need to navigate in 2026. The dialogue Alongside the data, our Talent Talks podcast brought in voices from the field. These included learning designers, organizational psychologists, facilitators, and L&D leaders. Together they helped us make sense of the human realities behind the numbers."

Workplace learning experienced major, rapid shifts across 2025 that affected workloads, skill demands, technology adoption, and career expectations. Longitudinal TalentLMS research and expert conversations tracked these changes over three years, revealing persistent trend lines in learning behaviors, challenges, and priorities. The 2026 benchmark aggregates year-over-year data to surface meaningful patterns, early warning signs, and enduring shifts. A long-view, evidence-based approach highlights the deeper realities shaping L&D and clarifies the conditions teams will face in 2026. Practitioner voices added human context, emphasizing the need for L&D teams to plan, prioritize, and adapt to sustain employee performance.

Read at TalentLMS Blog