Non-IT Training Will Fuel E-Learning, Research Indicates

ByPeter Strozniak Corporate demand for Web-based business-skills training for employees is expected to fuel the growth of the e-learning market. The corporate e-learning market is expected to exceed $18 billion by 2005, from nearly $2.3 billion last year, according to IDC, a business research firm based in Framingham, Mass. Driving this growth, in part, is a demand shift in the market from IT skills training to non-IT or business skills such as sales training, project management, leadership, and communications. In 2000, the non-IT segment accounted for only 24% of corporate e-learning training. But this number is expected to jump to nearly 54% by 2005, according to IDC. "There's a lot more stuff that is not technology related that people need to know for their jobs," says Cushing Anderson, program manager for IDC's learning research. "IT skills just happened to be what people started to learn first for logical reasons."