Here in the U.S., there are so many companies that are starting to incorporate corporate English courses as part of their employee skills development. With companies getting an influx of international employees and wanting to make sure that their employees can grow and communicate clearly across the company and with clients, the importance of having a corporate English course for non-native English speakers can make or break a company. Even more so, they are trying to keep up with the backslide in earning and development that many companies saw during the pandemic. Adding in corporate English language training has been shown to be a great way to start boosting that back up, and as it is relatively inexpensive to do so many companies have increased their budget for this particular sector. According to research from Capterra, 49% of companies have increased their budget and 38% have maintained it between 2019-2022.
When planning out the budget for corporate English training, you will undoubtedly want to shop around and do some research to find the best fit for your company. Preply Business is a solid choice for this kind of training, and they offer great customization to be able to work with any needs your company may have. Preply corporate English training has gotten very popular because of its highly-rated tutors and flexibility. Today we’re going to dive into just how much these U.S. companies are sinking into corporate English courses for their employees.
What affects spending costs for companies’ learning and development?
Many aspects that can affect how much a company spends on learning and development, which is what corporate English language training falls into.Â
* Turnover rate: Over the last year, an unprecedented number of people have quit their jobs, which leads to a loss of knowledge at many companies. Due to this loss, companies that have experienced this high turnover have increased their learning and development program budgets by 25% for the current year.
* Business size: The size of the business has been seen to have an impact on how much is being spent. With large enterprise companies, we have seen a budgetary increase in 56% of companies. Remote companies have also seen an uptick in their budgets in about 48% of companies. Small businesses are falling behind in this race, at only 32% of companies raising their budgets.
* Remote vs In-person: Remote businesses have kept increasing their budget for learning and development over the last few years, as remote businesses have been picking up more and more employees.
Why does your company want to invest in corporate English courses?
When an HR team looks at investing in a language program, one of the things they look at aside from cost is the expected ROI (return on investment). Much of this will come down to a few keep points relating to why your company plans to make this investment.
* Want vs need: Is this something that employees have expressed that they want, even though it does not particularly serve a specific purpose in their job? Or is it something that you have seen that your company needs to be successful? For a wants-based desire to invest, it is more about helping your employees, especially non-English peaking members, grow and develop. This will help your company grow as well with the additional employee confidence and skill development that can come from corporate English courses. Needs-based desires to invest come from you or a member of your team having spotted an immediate company need. You may be expanding your business or client base and need more English speakers to handle tasks, you may have found yourself struggling with lost time and money from miscommunications between employees with a struggle to speak English to get information across, etc. Either way, you will find that your investment in corporate English language training will be beneficial to your company.
* Bias in the workplace: A recent study from Human Resource Management Review has shown that the working relationship between an employee and their manager can be affected by the employee’s accent. Yes, something as small as just an accent can trigger an unconscious bias and negatively affect the employee’s chances of upward mobility and a healthy working relationship with their boss. When this happens, these employees are less likely to stay with their company, thus costing the company time and money to replace. Adding a corporate English course to your company’s training is a great way to combat this phenomenon and make sure your employees feel welcome no matter their language background.
What is the average amount spent by U.S. companies on corporate English training?
Now we come to the big question of the article: how much are these U.S. companies spending on corporate English language training each year? What kind of dough is being shelled out to make sure company employees are fully trained in the English language to help benefit the big picture? Let me share a little tidbit on this with you: it varies drastically. The average amount being spent by smaller businesses for corporate language training is around $507,000 per year, and for mid-sized businesses, it hovers around the $808,000 per year area according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Another set of numbers we found from a different source puts it a bit higher, stating that total annual U.S. training expenditures are around $92.3 billion, with mid-sized companies spending around $1.3 million, large companies spending $17.5 million, and small companies spending around $506,819. You can also break it down to a per employee view: an average of $1,308 per year per employee. It can honestly cover such a wide range because the size of the company and the level of training each employee needs will be different. The overall appearance, though, is that as more companies realize the benefits of corporate English courses, more spending will occur.
In all honesty, we had difficulty finding exact numbers for just how much U.S. companies are spending each year on corporate English training specifically, as it is often just rolled into overall employee training costs. Suffice to say that it is not cheap, but the ROI for corporate English courses is well worth the dollar amount. You will increase the profitability, productivity, and overall well-being of the company and its employees with just this additional training offering. If you are ready to get started or to learn more, check out our blog for more great information.
