The latest L&D news, reports, research and updates, personally compiled by TJ’s Editor, Jo Cook. This week: Young talent, workplace trust, autonomy, news habits and bereavement support all come under scrutiny. Also new research revealing where employers may be missing crucial opportunities to strengthen employee skills, culture and human connection.
Are L&D leaders stepping away from strategy discussions?
Participation of learning and development leaders in business strategy discussions has steadily declined over the last three of RedThread Research’s biennial reports, according to the company’s study. Despite this trend, L&D isn’t becoming irrelevant, RedThread said. Instead, many leaders “have stopped fighting for a strategy seat and started closing capability gaps directly,” per the report, working more directly with the functions they serve.
Meanwhile, workers tend to rely on manager feedback and stretch assignments to help them develop skills, rather than using standard L&D frameworks. In fact, “none of the traditional L&D-owned methods ranked in the top 10” of methods relied upon for development, RedThread said.
Only 19% of customer education programmes meet maturity benchmark
Customer education programmes have gained executive attention and strategic status, but most lack the structures needed to demonstrate business impact, according to a new benchmarking study.
The State of Customer Education 2026 surveyed 500 organisations and found a significant gap between how programmes assess their own maturity and the operational foundations they have actually built. The study examined organisations running customer education programmes alongside businesses that sell training as a product.
Three in ten employers lose a full workday every week to skills gaps, Chegg research finds
New research from Chegg, a global learning and workforce skilling company, reveals a significant skills gap that is placing pressure on employers and employees in frontline-heavy industries across the U.S. The consequences are already being felt: three in ten employers (30%) say they spend more than eight hours every week compensating for workforce skills gaps.
Chegg’s Frontline Workers Skills Index, based on a survey of 1,000 employers and 1,005 employees across ten frontline-heavy industries, including retail, manufacturing, and finance, uncovers a widening perception gap between employers and employees on skills gaps, AI adoption, and training effectiveness, suggesting that traditional approaches are no longer enough. By employers, the survey refers to respondents who are fully or partly involved in hiring decisions at their organization; employees refer to those with no responsibility for hiring.
65% of workers regularly feel nostalgic for how work operated before AI
To follow-up on last year’s research into the human cost of digital transformation, Adaptivist spoke to 2,500 knowledge workers about their experiences of AI in the workplace. The data is clear—AI has officially moved from experimentation to expectation in the workplace.
- The ‘verification tax’ – A hidden productivity burden created by the need to check, correct, and validate AI-generated work. 52% regularly correct AI-generated work from colleagues
- The white-collar exodus – As a result of these pressures, a new structural risk is emerging. 33% say they are already considering changing industries due to AI
Open University report questions whether support for NEETs is needed to plug the skills shortages
A new report from The Open University reveals a growing mismatch between employer needs and available talent – in turn preventing organisations from addressing persistent skills shortages while large numbers of young people remain locked out of the workforce.
The ‘Business Barometer 2026: Harnessing young talent pipeline in a digital world’ is based on a survey of 1,500 UK employers and 1,000 young people aged 16–24 who are currently not in education, employment or training (NEET). It finds that over half (57%) of employers are experiencing a skills shortage, a figure which is up 3% from last year. Additionally, 42% revealed they’re expecting their skills shortage to worsen.
New report reveals growing trust gap between employees and employers
A survey of more than 1,000 HR leaders and managers has revealed overall trust in the workplace between employees and senior leadership teams has fallen significantly over the last five years.
Outplacement and HR specialist INTOO has revealed the findings in its annual Future World of Work report. The report takes an in-depth look at the relationship between HR leaders and managers across the UK in organisations employing 250 people or more. It provides an important nation-wide temperature check on the heart of UK working life every year.
Autonomy and flexibility outrank workplace technology in employee experience poll
Businesses that over-index on workplace technology risk missing what employees value most, according to a new poll from Wipro’s experience innovation company, Designit.
A third of poll respondents (33%) identified autonomy as the most important element of a well-designed employee experience, followed by flexibility (30%). By comparison, better digital tools ranked lower at 21%, while just 15% said leadership that listens was the defining feature of a great workplace experience.
The findings come as organisations continue to invest heavily in AI, automation and digital workplace transformation to improve productivity, engagement and performance. The research suggests that while workplace technology remains a critical part of the employee experience, it is no longer a differentiator in its own right. Instead, its value is increasingly judged by whether it gives people greater control over how they work, make decisions and manage their time.
Social media is the leading source of news, per Reuters
Reuters Institute published its 2026 Digital News Report, which looks at the state of the current information ecosystem and how people are getting their news.
Based on survey data from more than 85,000 respondents across 48 regions, the annual Reuters Institute report provides a snapshot of modern news consumption, as well as the key factors that influence opinions. Unsurprisingly, social media is now the key driving force, with more people saying that social platforms are their most-used news source daily.
New study finds business leaders are unable to support bereaved staff
Research published by global leadership development organisation, The Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL), revealed just 27% of managers are knowledgeable enough to support a grieving employee, with only 23% having the required skills to do so effectively. In addition, 66% of leaders said more training relating to bereavement is required, to provide appropriate support.
Unsurprisingly, the survey of 600 business leaders, 200 coworkers and over 700 bereaved employees across the US, revealed that managers find that the impacts of grief on employees can vary significantly amongst individuals, making it harder to identify when support is needed.
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