When employers invest in upskilling, workers are far less likely to quit, according to the most recent Today at Work report from ADP Research.

Data are based on responses from 38,000 working adults in 34 markets between July 23 and Aug. 6, 2024.

Workforce training delivers enormous returns, according to ADP, but only a fourth of the workers polled said they are gaining the skills necessary to advance in their careers within the next three years. Less than 4% of employers offer upskilling opportunities within the first two years of employment, according to the report.

“With rapid-fire advances in technology bearing down, on-the-job training and continuing education have become just as important as post-secondary schooling, if not more so. Even workers with advanced college degrees might need to bolster their on-the-job skills,” ADP Research said.

The payoff for employers, according to the research, is that workers are more inclined to stay at their current places of employment when they receive additional training on the job. In addition to seeing reduced turnover, employers that invest in upskilling their workers see high productivity as well as a boost in their reputation, the data show.

“Workers [who] feel strongly that their employer is providing the training they need are nearly six times more likely than others to recommend their company as a great place to work,” ADP Research said. “They are 3.3 times more likely to describe themselves as highly productive.”

Further, according to the survey, even workers who believed that they didn’t need any upskilling were more likely to stay at a company that offers training opportunities.

“When these confident workers believe that their employees are investing in them, they’re twice as likely to say they have no intention of leaving their organization, compared to workers that are skilled but lack on-the-job training opportunities,” according to the report.