Press Release

IT companies increasingly invest in training and assessment for staff, new study finds


BLOOMINGTON, MN, March 26, 2018 – IT employers are increasingly investing in training and assessment for staff, according to a new survey by computer-based testing company Pearson VUE.

A global survey of more than 29,000 IT professionals who took a certification exam in the last 12 months found that 56 percent were paid for by employers – an increase of 6 percent compared with the company’s previous annual survey – and only 3 in 10 exams (30.5 percent) were paid for by the individual test-taker.

The majority of those surveyed had experienced professional benefits from completing their certification, with over 6 in 10 (64.9 percent) stating that obtaining certification had a positive impact on their professional reputation. A fifth (22.6 percent) said they had moved into a career in IT as a result, and almost a fifth (17.7 percent) said it helped them get a salary increase.

More than a third (36.9 percent) said the certification helped them perform complex tasks more confidently and a fifth (21.6 percent) said it helped improve their performance review ratings.

More than 8 in 10 of those surveyed (81 percent) had taken a training course – either through an instructor-led classroom, virtual classroom or digital training – in the past 12 months. The top ten certification programs were from Microsoft (23.4 percent), Cisco (21.4 percent), VMware (11.2 percent), Oracle (8.3 percent), CompTIA (8.3 percent), IBM (6.9 percent), HPE (5.2 percent), Dell EMC (3.9 percent), Juniper (2.9 percent) and Linux Professional Institute (LPI) (2.7%).

"Our research indicates that employers recognize that investing in training and certification has substantial benefits for their staff and their business,” said Bob Whelan, president of Pearson Assessments. “More than half of employees (54 percent) experienced their first benefit from certification very quickly, within the first three months, which could explain why 88 percent are likely to take a further certification in the next 12 months.”

The survey was completed in October 2017 and yielded 29,297 completed responses from around the world. A total of 35 IT companies participated in the survey.

To download the report, visit the www.pearsonvue.com/voc website.


Media contact

Damien Fletcher
+44 (0)20 7010 2582
damien.fletcher@pearson.com