# Training and Development Specialists

US SOC code 13-1151. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/13-1151

Also called: L&D specialist, Learning and development specialist, Corporate trainer, Instructional designer, Training specialist.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **458,300** US training and development specialists, with median pay of **$69,280** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2012, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-PR32_5200-00275cf1fd80a1d51995ae716fd38f34/html/GOVPUB-PR32_5200-00275cf1fd80a1d51995ae716fd38f34.htm) of **23,000** from 1944, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for training and development specialists: xAPI, mobile learning, and modern LXP, 2012 to 2022.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 10.8% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=13-1151&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **59.2%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Training and Development Specialists employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1872
- Latest US employment: 458,300 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [5]
- Latest US median pay: $69,280 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [13]
- Outlook: +10.8% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [29]

### In other countries

The latest figure each country's statistics agency publishes for this job. Each uses its own occupation definition, survey basis and currency, so the numbers are not directly comparable with each other or with the US figures.

- **United Kingdom** (UK SOC 3574)
  - Employment, 2025: 125,000. Source: ONS ASHE 2025 [8]. ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Table 14): employee jobs in SOC 3574 Other vocational and industrial trainers, United Kingdom, 2025 (ASHE "number of jobs", thousands x1000; excludes self-employment). Open Government Licence v3.0.
  - Median pay, 2025: £33,236. Source: ONS ASHE 2025 [17]. ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Table 14.7a): median gross annual pay for all employee jobs in SOC 3574 Other vocational and industrial trainers, United Kingdom, 2025. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- **Australia** (ANZSCO 2233)
  - Employment, 2025: 30,300. Source: ABS Labour Force Survey [9]. ABS Labour Force Survey (Detailed), table EQ08: employed persons in ANZSCO 2233 Training and Development Professionals, national (summed across sex and state/territory), annual average of 4 quarterly estimates.
  - Median pay, 2025: A$101,712. Source: ABS Employee Earnings May 2025 [18]. Annualised (x52) from A$1,956 median weekly earnings. ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025: median pay for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate, before tax. Surfaced via the Jobs and Skills Australia occupation profile.

### All 22 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1944 | 23,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Training Within Industry Report [1] |
| 1956 | n/a | $5,200 (estimate) | Est., University of Missouri Libraries [10] |
| 1970 | 75,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Association for Talent Development (ATD) [2] |
| 1985 | n/a | $28,000 (estimate) | Est., ATD (ASTD) [11] |
| 1990 | 165,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., ASTD / ResearchGate [3] |
| 2000 | 215,000 (estimate) | $40,830 | Est., O\*NET 13-1151.00 (employment) [4]; BLS OEWS 2000 (pay) [12] |
| 2010 | 203,870 | $54,160 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [5] |
| 2011 | 205,680 | $55,150 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [5] |
| 2012 | 217,930 | $55,930 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [5] |
| 2013 | 224,110 | $56,850 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [5] |
| 2014 | 239,500 | $57,340 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [5] |
| 2015 | 254,060 | $58,210 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [5] |
| 2016 | 269,710 | $59,020 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [5] |
| 2017 | 280,340 | $60,360 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [5] |
| 2018 | 291,380 | $60,870 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [5] |
| 2019 | 312,450 | $61,210 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [5] |
| 2020 | 318,040 | $62,700 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [5] |
| 2021 | 336,030 | $61,570 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [5] |
| 2022 | 367,180 | $63,080 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [5] |
| 2023 | 403,480 | $64,340 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [5] |
| 2024 | 436,610 | $65,850 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [5] |
| 2025 | 458,300 | $69,280 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [5] |

## Sources (90)

### Employment series

1. [Training Within Industry Report, 1940-1945 (U.S. War Manpower Commission, govinfo.gov)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-PR32_5200-00275cf1fd80a1d51995ae716fd38f34/html/GOVPUB-PR32_5200-00275cf1fd80a1d51995ae716fd38f34.htm), U.S. War Manpower Commission / GovInfo
2. [Association for Talent Development (ATD) — "Looking Back at 70 Years of ASTD" (founding and membership history)](https://www.td.org/content/td-magazine/looking-back-at-70-years-of-astd), Association for Talent Development
3. [ASTD / ResearchGate — "Models for Excellence: The Results of the ASTD Training and Development Competency Study" (McLagan, 1983; updated 1989)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234583627_Models_for_Excellence_The_Results_of_the_ASTD_Training_and_Development_Competency_Study), ASTD / ResearchGate
4. [O\*NET 13-1151.00 — Training and Development Specialists occupational summary (BLS SOC 2000 introduction reference)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/13-1151.00), O\*NET / BLS
5. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
6. ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 3563, United Kingdom. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0., Office for National Statistics. Editions: [2002](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2002/2002-table-14.zip), [2006](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2006consistentw_007methodology/2006-table-14.zip), [2010](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2010revised/2010-revised-table-14.zip), [2011](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2011revisedbasedonsoc2010/2011-revised-table-14.zip), [2015](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2015/table142015revised.zip), [2020](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2020revised/table142020revised.zip)
7. [ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 3574, United Kingdom, 2022. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2022revised/ashetable142022revised.zip), Office for National Statistics
8. [ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 3574, United Kingdom, 2025. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2025provisional/ashetable142025provisional.zip), Office for National Statistics
9. [ABS: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, table EQ08 (Employed persons by Occupation unit group, ANZSCO 2013), latest release](https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/latest-release), Australian Bureau of Statistics

### Wage series

10. [University of Missouri Libraries — "Prices and Wages by Decade: 1950-1959" (BLS historical wage data)](https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1950-1959), University of Missouri Libraries / BLS historical sources
11. [ATD (ASTD) — "Looking Back at 70 Years of ASTD" (professional standards and compensation history reference)](https://www.td.org/content/td-magazine/looking-back-at-70-years-of-astd), Association for Talent Development
12. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
13. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
14. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
15. ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 3563, United Kingdom. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0., Office for National Statistics. Editions: [2002](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2002/2002-table-14.zip), [2006](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2006consistentw_007methodology/2006-table-14.zip), [2010](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2010revised/2010-revised-table-14.zip), [2011](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2011revisedbasedonsoc2010/2011-revised-table-14.zip), [2015](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2015/table142015revised.zip), [2020](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2020revised/table142020revised.zip)
16. [ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 3574, United Kingdom, 2022. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2022revised/ashetable142022revised.zip), Office for National Statistics
17. [ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 3574, United Kingdom, 2025. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2025provisional/ashetable142025provisional.zip), Office for National Statistics
18. [Jobs and Skills Australia: Training and Development Professionals (ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025)](https://www.jobsandskills.gov.au/data/occupation-and-industry-profiles/occupations/2233-training-and-development-professionals), Jobs and Skills Australia / Australian Bureau of Statistics

### Tool eras

19. [CorporateTrainingMaterials.com — "Looking Back: A Brief History of the Corporate Training Industry" (R. Hoe 1872 factory school, Charles R. Allen 1919)](https://corporatetrainingmaterials.com/blogs/using-our-materials/looking-back-a-brief-history-of-the-corporate-training-industry), CorporateTrainingMaterials.com
20. [Training Within Industry Report, 1940-1945 (U.S. War Manpower Commission, govinfo.gov)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-PR32_5200-00275cf1fd80a1d51995ae716fd38f34/html/GOVPUB-PR32_5200-00275cf1fd80a1d51995ae716fd38f34.htm), U.S. War Manpower Commission / GovInfo
21. [Wikipedia — Training Within Industry (program history, scale, and Japanese influence)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Training_Within_Industry), Wikipedia
22. [ATD — "Looking Back at 70 Years of ASTD" (professional development and tools evolution through the ASTD era)](https://www.td.org/content/td-magazine/looking-back-at-70-years-of-astd), Association for Talent Development
23. [ASTD / ResearchGate — "Models for Excellence: The Results of the ASTD Training and Development Competency Study" (McLagan, 1989)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234583627_Models_for_Excellence_The_Results_of_the_ASTD_Training_and_Development_Competency_Study), ASTD / ResearchGate
24. [CompoZer / eLearning standards blog — "What Is AICC in eLearning? Definition, How It Works, and When to Use It" (AICC 1988 founding and CBT history)](https://www.compozer.com/post/what-is-aicc-elearning), CompoZer
25. [eLearning Industry — "eLearning Standards 101: SCORM, AICC, xAPI, cmi5, And IMS Cartridge" (SCORM 2001 history and LMS era)](https://elearningindustry.com/elearning-standards-scorm-aicc-xapi-cmi5-ims-cartridge), eLearning Industry
26. [ATD — AI in Learning and Development Survey 2025 (67% reduction in content authoring time; facilitation and needs analysis as highest-value human tasks)](https://www.td.org/research-reports/ai-in-learning-and-development), Association for Talent Development
27. [WEF — Future of Jobs Report 2025 (59 out of 100 workers need reskilling by 2030; 85% of employers prioritize upskilling)](https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/), World Economic Forum
28. [Synthesia (AI avatar-based video platform for corporate training and L&D)](https://www.synthesia.io/), Synthesia

### Forecasts and exposure studies

29. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 13-1151 Training and development specialists (2025: 472.5 thousand; 2035: 523.7 thousand; +10.8%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=13-1151&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
30. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 13-1151.00, human-rated β 0.592)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

31. [CorporateTrainingMaterials.com — "Looking Back: A Brief History of the Corporate Training Industry"](https://corporatetrainingmaterials.com/blogs/using-our-materials/looking-back-a-brief-history-of-the-corporate-training-industry), CorporateTrainingMaterials.com
32. [Association for Talent Development — Wikipedia (founding history, name changes)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_for_Talent_Development), Wikipedia
33. [CompoZer — "What Is AICC in eLearning? Definition, How It Works, and When to Use It"](https://www.compozer.com/post/what-is-aicc-elearning), CompoZer
34. [ATD — "ASTD Announces Name Change" (May 2014)](https://www.td.org/content/press-release/astd-announces-name-change), Association for Talent Development
35. [Research.com — "2026 Training Industry Statistics: Data, Trends & Predictions" (ATD 2025 State of the Industry: $102.8B spending)](https://research.com/careers/training-industry-statistics), Research.com

### Predecessors & successors

36. [CorporateTrainingMaterials.com — "Looking Back: A Brief History of the Corporate Training Industry" (R. Hoe 1872 factory school)](https://corporatetrainingmaterials.com/blogs/using-our-materials/looking-back-a-brief-history-of-the-corporate-training-industry), CorporateTrainingMaterials.com
37. [Training Within Industry Report, 1940-1945 (U.S. War Manpower Commission)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Training_Within_Industry), Wikipedia / U.S. War Manpower Commission

### Present-day analysis

- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-23
- [O\*NET 30.3 — Training and Development Specialists (13-1151.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/13-1151.00), accessed 2026-05-23
- [ATD — State of the Industry Report 2024](https://www.td.org/research-reports/state-of-the-industry), accessed 2026-05-23
- [ATD — AI in Learning and Development Survey 2025](https://www.td.org/research-reports/ai-in-learning-and-development), accessed 2026-05-23
- [WEF — Future of Jobs Report 2025](https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2025/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Josh Bersin — A Revolution in Corporate Learning: AI Reinvents the $360B Market (Mar 2025)](https://joshbersin.com/2025/03/a-revolution-in-corporate-learning-begins-join-us-on-the-journey/), accessed 2026-06-21
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Training and Development Specialists (2024)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/training-and-development-specialists.htm), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Synthesia — AI video generation for corporate training: enterprise platform documentation (2025)](https://www.synthesia.io/learning-and-development), accessed 2026-06-21
- [HeyGen — AI avatar video creation for L&D and onboarding (2025)](https://www.heygen.com/use-cases/corporate-training), accessed 2026-06-21
- [Chief Learning Officer Magazine — AI and adaptive learning in L&D organizations (2026)](https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2026/01/12/the-efficiency-paradox-why-adaptive-ai-must-rescue-learning-from-abundance/), accessed 2026-06-21
- [Sana Labs — AI-native enterprise learning platform: adaptive pathways and LMS automation (2025)](https://www.sanalabs.com/platform), accessed 2026-06-21
- [Cornerstone — Learning platform: intelligent skills inference and content recommendations (2025)](https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/platform/learning/), accessed 2026-06-21
- [Articulate — AI Assistant in Articulate 360 and Rise: AI authoring assistant for eLearning](https://articulate.com/360/ai-assistant/), accessed 2026-06-21
- [Training Magazine — 2025 Training Industry Report: AI and L&D spending trends](https://trainingmag.com/trgmag-article/2025-training-industry-report/), accessed 2026-06-21

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.