While learning and development (L&D) programs seem to be popular, employers and employees disagree sharply about their value, a survey found.

Eighty-four percent of employees expect their employer to provide the training and education they need to stay up to date with changing skill sets in their industry, but 51 percent of the executives said their companies’ existing L&D programs feel like a “waste of time,” the survey found. More than 800 C-suite executives and 800 employees responded to the survey conducted by online learning platform edX.

There was more convergence of opinion when it came to where the responsibility lies for L&D.  Eighty percent of employees stated that they now see companies as the new post-secondary colleges and 93 percent of C-suite executives overwhelmingly agreed.

While 53 percent of executives believe that L&D programs should be focused on upskilling at scale and 50 percent believe that they should drive employee performance, 49 percent also see it as an important strategy to keep employees engaged. They need not be worried that better trained workers may take their newly acquired skills elsewhere; only one in 10 respondents reported upskilling in order to get a job somewhere else, and almost 80 percent said that they were more likely to stay with their company long term if it offered better training and development.

Still, challenges remain when it comes to providing high-quality learning at scale. While the C-suite respondents believe that 65 percent of employees are “very satisfied,” only 32 percent of employees say that they are. Forty-eight percent of employees said they are somewhat satisfied ), and 16 percent are actively dissatisfied.

Employees really want to learn, the survey revealed, as about half of them reported a willingness to make some kind of sacrifice in order to access better L&D opportunities. That could be in the form of taking a more stressful job or one with less time off.

The research findings are based on a survey conducted by edX and Workplace Intelligence between July 10 and July 24, 2023. In total, 1,600 full-time, U.S.-based employees completed the survey, including 800 C-suite executives and 800 knowledge workers. Respondents were invited to take part in the survey via email and were provided with a small monetary incentive for doing so.