According to the Workplace Learning Report 2025 from LinkedIn, career development is the key ingredient to possessing a workforce with the right skills for the future and addressing the risk of employee attrition.

However, LinkedIn found only one in three (36%) of organizations were defined as ‘career development champions’ – companies ranked highly on a career development maturity curve.

Meanwhile, 31% have career development programs with limited adoption, and 33% have no initiatives or are just getting started.

All organizations (100%) deemed as champions are achieving positive business results according to the report, deploying at least 33% more career development tactics than non-champions. 

More than eight in 10 champions (83%) will also maintain or increase investments in career-driven learning during 2025.

Olivier Sabella, VP – EMEA & LATAM, Talent Solutions at LinkedIn, tells UNLEASH that career progression is the top motivating factor for people to learn at work, and when they are unable to progress their careers they will take their skills to different employers.

“The world of work is changing quickly, and organizations cannot afford to have unmotivated teams with high levels of churn,” Sabella says.

“By prioritizing career development, organizations can boost energy, loyalty and innovation – all of which are vital for navigating the fast-changing world of work.”

The critical role of skills and continuous learning to combat employee attrition

LinkedIn’s research found that 88% of organizations are concerned about retaining employees, and that providing learning opportunities was the top retention strategy among respondents. 

Sabella says that it “sounds simple” to combat attrition by having “the right people, with the right skills, in the right jobs, at the right time,” but that the reality for HR and talent leaders is another story.

Building a culture of continuous learning takes time, but by demonstrating to your employees how developing new skills will help them progress within the organization, and making learning accessible, you can help to motivate your teams to learn,” he explains.

“AI can then help deliver personalized and dynamic learning at scale, while manager involvement can also help guide employees toward relevant learning opportunities.” 

LinkedIn tracked the skills  most likely to show a net depletion at companies with more than 50 hires and 50 departures.

The top skill lost to attrition was business strategy – the ability to set goals and adjust to changing market forces – followed by strategic planning, sales management, project planning and operations management. 

The rest of the top 10 skills comprised marketing strategy, management, business development, negotiation and team leadership.

Sabella says that these skills are the “most valuable” to organizations and “some of the hardest to replace”, meaning an emphasis on career development is again necessary to “stem this loss”.

He adds that it’s important to remember that promotions are not the only way to help employees progress in their careers.

“Giving people the opportunity to acquire new skills, take part in coaching, or move to new roles within the organization can all help people feel valued, engaged and more likely to stay at the company – meaning businesses can retain those crucial skills,” Sabella explains.

Leadership values career development but systemic issues must be addressed

When asked to consider what the main obstacles to career development in their organizations were, respondents said a lack of proper support for managers (50%), a lack of support for employees (45%), and a lack of support for talent teams (33%).

Despite this, just 11% said “leadership doesn’t value career development” was a top three barrier, showing there is an awareness of the appetite at leadership level for career development but also a systemic issue to overcome.

Sabella highlights AI-driven learning platforms as one solution to this problem, using personalized learning initiatives at scale to drive greater efficiency.

He adds becoming “laser-focused” on measuring the business impact of learning will help teams to “secure more resource and investment”.

“Our data paints a clear picture – where managers and employees are all too stretched to focus on career development, despite understanding the positive impact this can have on individuals and the wider business,” Sabella concludes.

Talent leaders have the knowledge and insights needed to bring this story to life for the C-Suite – articulating how Learning & Development can drive bottom-line results, how their teams can work cross-functionally to deliver this impact, and what the business risks are of not taking action.”