Learn and grow: How learning programs can increase employee retention

TOGETHER WITH

Benefits with *real* benefits. Workplace learning programs are more than tuition reimbursements—they’re a long-term employee retention strategy. Workforce Edge helps organizations build flexible learning pathways that empower employees in their career, help employers reduce hiring costs, and deliver real results. Check it out.

Workplace learning is a retention strategy. Organizations that treat education as an investment in talent instead of a perk have an opportunity to build workforces that stick around, grow, and perform.

For employees, workplace learning opportunities are an indication that employers value their professional growth. When employees understand how these opportunities contribute to their advancement within the organization, they can be encouraged to stay and grow with their employer.

For employers, the benefits of workplace learning go beyond retention by helping to develop skills critical to their organization. Cultivating internal talent development can be a struggle. New LinkedIn data reveals that 86% of companies struggle with talent velocity, or an organization’s capacity to identify existing skills within a workforce, develop/source new ones, and deploy people quickly enough to stay ahead of shifting market demands. 2026 LinkedIn data also shows that 72% of talent velocity leaders, companies with effective career development strategies, say internal mobility is more important than ever. With flexible, career-aligned education, employers can grow leaders within their existing teams and build long-term impact.

We teamed up with Workforce Edge to explore how learning functions as a retention strategy and how organizations can harness education at a strategic level for talent mobility and growth.

Help employees see what’s possible

Encouraging employees to stay starts with making sure they feel valued and can envision their future with the organization. By promoting career advancement through education, employers can signal to employees that they’re committed to their growth within the organization.

Surveys across industries suggest that employees are increasingly seeking advancement at work and they expect employers to invest in their development. Organizations that fail to meet that expectation are at risk of losing top talent to competitors that are making the investment.

According to Workday’s 2025 Global Workforce Report, more than half (57%) of job seekers say they feel stuck in today’s market with no clear next step, with year-over-year attrition rates rising 64% in retail, 28% in healthcare and 14% in professional services.

Strategic Education’s Workforce Education Trends Report found that nearly 2 in 5 healthcare employees agree workforce training/education benefits are a reason they stay with their employer, a figure that rises to 61% among Gen Z employees. In the same report, more than 6 in 10 (63%) healthcare employees agree that they’d be more likely to stay with their employer if tuition support were provided.

The biggest takeaway? Workforce education is an opportunity for employers to invest in the pride, loyalty, and skills of their workforce.

Connecting learning to career pathways + business needs

To be most effective, employers need to design intentional career pathways or roadmaps that align with future business needs.

According to the LinkedIn 2025 Workplace Learning Report, nearly half (49%) of learning and talent development professionals believe executives are concerned there is a skills crisis. And according to a World Economic Forum report, employers expect 39% of workers’ core skills to change.

The solution lies in creating clear roadmaps that guide employees through the exact steps of acquiring needed skills and advancing in the organization. These guides to advancement through education can help strengthen retention, speed up internal mobility, and build critical skills in roles that are difficult to fill externally.

Let’s use Workforce Edge’s Tech Skills Academy as an example. Tech Skills Academy offers structured learning pathways that connect in-demand skills with learning and career outcomes across technology roles. These pathways are applicable across all industries, enabling any organization with a tech department facing talent shortages to build critical capabilities from within.

Building internal talent has significant advantages. Current employees already understand your organization’s culture, processes, and goals. And with the right upskilling investment, they can move into high-value roles faster—often with greater retention—than external hires.

Keep learning flexible and supportive

Strategic workplace learning programs can only make an impact for employers and employees when they’re flexible and support both groups’ needs.

As working adults, employees need flexibility to choose how and when they pursue their education. The most successful programs remove the red tape. That means developing programs that offer multiple pathways to earn a degree or certificate and give employees the flexibility to take courses on a schedule that works for their lives.

Employees are juggling multiple responsibilities while pursuing an educational program. To help them succeed, employers should look for an education benefits provider with dedicated success coaches and tutors that can check in with employees. Having a source of encouragement and reminders of the impact their continued education can have on their role with the organization makes a difference.

Within the program, employers should look for short-form, modular learning, including micro-credentials, stackable certifications, and competency-based pathways. These help to shorten time-to-skill from years to months, so employees can build skills rapidly while contributing their learnings to the wider organization. There’s no time lost, and employers and employees alike can reap the benefits.

The talent you need is within reach

Employers that stay ahead are treating tuition assistance and upskilling less like an HR perk and more like an investment in their business’s future. It’s not really a debate anymore about whether to fund workforce development. Most companies already understand the importance of having a dedicated program. The harder part is figuring out how to spend that money in a way that builds the workforce an employer will need in the future.

But here’s the best part: The talent your organization needs is likely already within reach, working on your teams. By prioritizing workforce education programs and supporting employees as they pursue them, employers can build internal pipelines that help improve retention, accelerate mobility, and reduce reliance on external hiring.