We may be six years into the new millennium, but according to a recent survey, e-learning has yet to push training out of the traditional classroom setting.

Respondents to “The 2005 United States Training Industry Study,” conducted by Training magazine, said that they provide about 70 percent of their formal training the old fashioned way — in the classroom. And that number jumps to 75 percent for respondents from the insurance/financial services industry. Depending on the size of the organization, and the type of training involved, 15 to 30 percent of the organizations surveyed said they used a combination of e-learning and traditional teaching methods in their training programs.

While the e-learning trend may not be growing as fast as anticipated, another trend — the outsourcing of training — continues its rise. In 2004, 35 percent of all respondents said they outsourced the design of their traditional training programs. This increased to 38 percent in 2005. Insurance/financial services organizations outsourced 48 percent of the development of traditional training programs in 2005, and 38 percent outsourced the delivery of those programs.

As far as training budgets are concerned, 32 percent of the respondents reported their training budgets increased in 2005 over 2004, while 56 percent said they were the same. The remaining 12 percent reported a decrease. The numbers look slightly better for insurance/financial services training budgets: 38 percent of respondents from insurance/financial services organizations reported training budget increases, while just 5 percent reported declines.

When it comes to controlling the budget, the study shows that human resource/training departments control 35 percent of technology-based training purchases, and 51 percent of traditional-training purchases. Within the insurance/financial services sector those HR departments have even more authority, with control over 52 percent of technology-based training purchases, and 62 percent of traditional-training purchases.

The study compiled responses from 1,223 organizations, ranging in size from fewer than 100 employees to more than 10,000. Of those organizations surveyed, 111 were from the insurance/financial services sector (including banking and real estate), accounting for about 9 percent of the survey total.