Skills training statistics at a glance
Skills training is one of the clearest ways to see who gets access to learning, who uses it, and where participation still falls short. The numbers below show a training system that is broad, but uneven, with large gaps by education, age, parental background, and job type.
Table of contents
- Fast facts
- What the OECD numbers say about participation
- Who trains more and who trains less
- Formal, non-formal, and job-related learning
- Employer-provided training in the United States
- Why participation still leaves people out
- What the gap patterns suggest
Fast facts
- Across OECD countries participating in PIAAC, 43% of adults reported some form of non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course).
- Adults in high-status occupations reported the highest training incidence at 62% (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course).
- Adults with below upper secondary education reported the lowest training incidence at 19% (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course).
- Among adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher, 61% reported training in the past 12 months (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course).
- Adults aged 30-49 reported 49% participation in non-formal learning, compared with 35% for adults aged 50-65 (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course).
- In the United States, 69.8% of employees in establishments of 50 or more employees received formal training within the last 12 months (BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training).
What the OECD numbers say about participation
The broad OECD picture is simple: adult learning is common, but far from universal. On average across OECD countries participating in PIAAC, 43% of adults reported some form of non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course). That puts skills training in the middle of everyday working life for a large share of adults, but it also leaves a majority outside the training system in a given year.
The same pattern appears in a separate OECD view of adult learning participation. Across the OECD, 2 in 5 adults engage in adult learning each year (OECD Trends in Adult Learning: Where, what and how are adults learning?). That estimate is consistent with the 43% figure above and reinforces the point that annual participation is substantial but still not close to universal.
A useful way to read these numbers is to separate access from intensity. The headline share tells you how many adults touch training at all. It does not tell you whether the training is short, repeated, aligned with job tasks, or deep enough to shift skills materially. That is why the next layers of the data matter.
Who trains more and who trains less
The strongest divide in the dataset is educational attainment. Among adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher, 61% reported training in the past 12 months (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course). By contrast, adults with below upper secondary education reported only 19% participation in the same period (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course). That is a gap of about 42 percentage points, which is large enough to shape career progression, wage growth, and job mobility.
A compact view of several group comparisons makes the pattern easier to see.
| Group | Participation rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Adults with bachelor’s degree or higher | 61% | OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course |
| Adults with below upper secondary education | 19% | OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course |
| Adults in high-status occupations | 62% | OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course |
| Adults aged 30-49 | 49% | OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course |
| Adults aged 50-65 | 35% | OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course |
| Women | 44% | OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course |
| Men | 42% | OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course |
Occupation also matters. Adults in high-status occupations reported the highest training incidence at 62% (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course). That suggests training is not distributed evenly across the labor market. People already in higher-status jobs are more likely to receive the learning that can help them stay there or move up further.
Age adds another layer. Adults aged 30-49 reported 49% participation in non-formal learning (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course). Adults aged 50-65 reported 35% participation (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course). The drop matters because it appears during years when workers may need the most support to stay current as tools, processes, and standards change.
Gender differences are smaller, but still visible. Women reported 44% participation in training, while men reported 42% (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course). That is not a dramatic gap, yet it shows that even where participation is relatively close, the distribution is still not identical.
Family background is another strong signal. Adults whose parents were tertiary educated reported 55% participation in training (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course). Adults whose parents lacked tertiary education reported 40% participation (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course). Adults whose parents held high-status occupations reported 52% participation, while adults whose parents had low-status jobs reported 38% participation (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course). These differences suggest that skills training is not just a function of present-day job requirements. It is also shaped by the educational and social advantages people bring with them into adulthood.
Geography in childhood shows a smaller but still meaningful spread. Adults who grew up in cities reported 45% participation in training. Adults who grew up in towns reported 44%. Adults who grew up in villages reported 40% (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course). The pattern is not extreme, but it is consistent with the broader message: learning opportunities are not distributed perfectly evenly across life paths.
Formal, non-formal, and job-related learning
The OECD statistics separate learning into different modes, and that distinction matters. Across the OECD, 8% of adults participated in formal learning, 37% in non-formal learning, 4% in both formal and non-formal learning, 32% in non-formal learning only, and 4% in formal learning only (OECD Trends in Adult Learning: Where, what and how are adults learning?). The headline takeaway is that non-formal learning does most of the work.
For most adults, training is not a return to school in the traditional sense. It is more likely to be short courses, employer-led learning, professional development, or other structured activities that sit outside formal education. That is one reason non-formal learning is such an important indicator. It captures the kind of skill maintenance and updating that many workers actually rely on.
Job-related learning shows a similar concentration. On average across OECD countries, 40% of adults participated in job-related formal or non-formal training over the prior 12 months (OECD Skills Outlook 2021: Promoting interest and participation in adult learning). Across the OECD, about half of adults who participated in non-formal job-related adult learning said usefulness for their current job was their reason for participation (OECD Trends in Adult Learning: Why is participation not more common?). That makes practical relevance a major driver.
The mix of learning types varies by country, which is useful context even when you are focused on the overall adult learning picture. Finland, Sweden, and the United States all had formal learning participation at 12% or above (OECD Trends in Adult Learning: Where, what and how are adults learning?). Japan had just 1% formal learning participation and Poland had 2% (OECD Trends in Adult Learning: Where, what and how are adults learning?). For non-formal job-related learning, Finland, Norway, and the United States all had participation of 50% or above, while Korea had 9%, Croatia 17%, and Poland 19% (OECD Trends in Adult Learning: Where, what and how are adults learning?).
Those comparisons show that a country can be strong in one learning mode and weak in another. When you look only at one headline number, you miss how adults actually move through learning systems.
Employer-provided training in the United States
The U.S. employer-training numbers show how strongly workplace size and employer structure can shape access. In establishments of 50 or more employees, 84.4% of employees received formal training while with their current employer (BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training). Within the last 12 months, 69.8% received formal training (BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training). Informal training was even more common: 95.8% of employees received informal training while with their current employer (BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training).
A compact breakdown makes the structure clearer.
| Training type | Share of employees | Time frame | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formal training | 84.4% | While with current employer | BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training |
| Formal training | 69.8% | Within last 12 months | BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training |
| Informal training | 95.8% | While with current employer | BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training |
| Management training | 28.4% | While with current employer | BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training |
| Management training | 16.3% | Within last 12 months | BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training |
| Informal management training | 32.3% | While with current employer | BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training |
| Computer, programming and software training | 38.4% | While with current employer | BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training |
| Computer, programming and software training | 23.5% | Within last 12 months | BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training |
| Informal computer, programming and software training | 54.3% | While with current employer | BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training |
| Clerical and administrative support skills training | 18.7% | While with current employer | BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training |
| Clerical and administrative support skills training | 8.4% | Within last 12 months | BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training |
| Informal clerical and administrative support skills training | 30.1% | While with current employer | BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training |
The pattern is consistent across categories. Formal training is common, but informal training is often even more widespread. That matters because informal training is closer to how work really changes day to day. It includes learning by doing, guidance from colleagues, and adaptation inside the job rather than away from it.
Management training is a smaller slice than general training or computer-related training. In U.S. establishments of 50 or more employees, 28.4% of employees received management training while with their current employer, and 16.3% received it within the last 12 months (BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training). Informal management training reached 32.3% (BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training). That suggests leadership development is present, but not as universal as broader workplace learning.
Computer, programming, and software training is especially relevant in a skills economy. In U.S. establishments of 50 or more employees, 38.4% of employees received this training while with their current employer, 23.5% received it within the last 12 months, and 54.3% received it informally (BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training). The difference between formal and informal participation again shows that a lot of learning happens as part of work itself.
Clerical and administrative support skills training is lower than computer-related training. Still, 18.7% received it while with their current employer, 8.4% within the last 12 months, and 30.1% informally (BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training). This category helps show that the training system is not just for advanced technical roles. It also supports routine operational functions that keep organizations moving.
Why participation still leaves people out
Even where annual participation is relatively high, barriers remain. Across the OECD, a quarter of adults reported encountering a barrier that prevented them from participating in desired training over the past 12 months (OECD Trends in Adult Learning: Why is participation not more common?). More than two in five adults who do not participate in training said they lack time because of work or family commitments (OECD Adult learning topic page). That means the issue is not only willingness. It is also capacity.
The OECD data also shows that a large share of adults sit outside the training system altogether. In the OECD average, nearly half of adults neither participated nor wanted to participate in adult learning in the previous 12 months (OECD Trends in Adult Learning: Executive summary). That is an important detail because it separates two groups that often get treated as the same. Some adults are blocked from training they want. Others are not currently seeking it at all.
When asked about motivation, usefulness is a major factor. About half of adults who participated in non-formal job-related adult learning said the reason was that it was useful for their current job (OECD Trends in Adult Learning: Why is participation not more common?). That indicates employers and workers are responding to immediate needs, not abstract policy messages. If training does not feel relevant, uptake falls.
What the gap patterns suggest
Taken together, the statistics point to a few broad conclusions.
First, skills training is common enough to matter, but not universal enough to be taken for granted. Annual participation around 40% to 43% means a large minority of adults are not training in a given year (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course; OECD Trends in Adult Learning: Where, what and how are adults learning?).
Second, the strongest participation gaps track social advantage. The most educated adults train much more than adults with low educational attainment. People in high-status occupations train more than people in lower-status jobs. Adults with tertiary-educated parents train more than adults whose parents did not reach tertiary education (OECD Skills Outlook 2025: How learning evolves across the life course).
Third, the dominant form of learning is not formal education. It is non-formal, job-linked, and often informal. That makes workplace access a central policy and business issue, not a side issue. If people learn mainly through jobs, then the workplace becomes the main gateway to skill building (OECD Trends in Adult Learning: Where, what and how are adults learning?; BLS Survey of Employer-Provided Training).
Fourth, barriers still matter even for people who want to train. Time constraints and access problems are part of the story, and they help explain why participation levels plateau below universal coverage (OECD Adult learning topic page; OECD Trends in Adult Learning: Why is participation not more common?).
The overall picture is not that adults are unwilling to learn. It is that access, job context, education history, and family background all influence who gets to train, how often, and in what form. That makes skills training statistics useful for more than labor-market trivia. They show where opportunity is expanding and where it still stops short.