Professional and Management Development Training

The 8,000 professional and management development training companies provide continuing education, training, and career development programs through short courses and seminars. While training programs help clients learn specific knowledge or skills to improve performance in a current role, development programs focus on growth and future performance. Common areas of training and development include general management; technical knowledge and skills; leadership; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); environmental, social, and governance (ESG); executive education; certification; and soft skills.

Dependence on Client Industry Performance and Economic Conditions

Demand for professional and management development training is dependent on the financial health of client industries, which is driven by general business and economic conditions.

Applying Technology to Leadership Training

Technology has helped elevate training platforms and improved engagement in management development initiatives.

Sep 4, 2026 - Managers Are Key To Business AI Adoption Success

• About 23% of business leaders say that their workforce is ready for AI, down six percentage points from 2025, according to Kyndryl’s 2026 People Readiness Report. At the same time, SHRM’s 2026 CEO research found that AI adoption is now the top organizational priority for 40% of CEOs. Managers are becoming the AI translation layer, according to HR News. Change often lands first with managers. They are the ones who must decide whether AI output is good enough, whether a recommendation needs human review, and whether an employee is using AI to improve their work or simply to produce something faster. They also have to manage the emotional side of adoption. Some employees will experiment confidently. Some will avoid AI because they fear being replaced. Some will use it without fully understanding the output. Others will quietly become dependent on it.
• Three out of four organizations rate their own leadership training programs as "not very effective," according to Inc.com. Only 18% of organizations say that their leaders are highly effective at achieving business goals. This is despite the fact that global corporate spending on leadership training is projected to increase by $31 billion between 2025 and 2029, adding to the roughly $366 billion already spent annually. Many leadership development programs may not be very effective because 60% of first-time managers receive zero training when they step into their first leadership role, according to the Center for Creative Leadership. Gartner confirms that 60% of those managers fail within 24 months.
• More than 90% of managers said that they lack time to participate in manager development programs, according to the Association for Talent Development. About 63% said being a manager is more difficult than they anticipated, and more than half said their organization provided little or no training to prepare. High-performing organizations were more likely to use pre- and post-training activities, as well as bite-sized learning options. OF the 53% of organizations that offered post-training activities, most provided access to a resource library on manager skills. These libraries tended to include articles, job aids, videos and other tools to reinforce learning.
• Professional and management development training industry sales are forecast to grow at a 4.62% compounded annual rate from 2026 to 2030, faster than the growth of the overall economy, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. Professional and management development training industry employment decreased slightly during the first seven months of the year, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Industry size & Structure

The average professional and management development training company operates out of a single location, employs about 8 workers, and generates $2 million annually.

• The professional and management development training industry consists of about 7,700 firms that employ about 64,700 workers and generate over $15.7 billion annually.
• The industry is fragmented with the top 50 companies accounting for about 30% of industry revenue.
• Firms that generate less than $1 million account for almost 45% of the industry. Firms that generate $10 million or more account for more than 38% of the industry revenue
• The industry includes a broad range of players, from multinational firms that serve Fortune 500 companies to executive coaches that work one-on-one with clients.
• Large firms include Dale Carnegie, Skillsoft, and Franklin Covey. The Federal Executive Institute (FEI) within the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is a government organization that provides leadership development programs for government agencies.
• About 20% of firms are tax-exempt organizations. About 4% of establishments are franchises.