85% of Employers Say Skill Development Is Their Top Priority. So Why Is L&D Still The First To Get Cut?

85% of employers say upskilling is their number one priority.71% say they expect to cut their Learning & Development budget when things get tight.I can't make those two numbers make sense.I've spent 20 years in L&D, and I've watched this contradiction play out in boardrooms and organizations again and again.The problem isn't that leadership doesn't value learning.It's that too often, we haven't made the value visible in the language the business understands.In this episode, I talk about what I've learned from building L&D functions, working through major business changes, and sitting across the table from leaders who need to know one thing:What changes because of this work?I share three stories from my own work and introduce the Five-Spoke Impact Model, which looks at how L&D contributes to:• Attracting and keeping the right people• Building capability at every level• Making high performance possible• Increasing agility and sparking innovation• Elevating the employee experienceAnd I share four things I would do this week to start making that value visible.Because being called a priority does not protect your budget.Proof does.And if we're serious about making L&D a strategic partner, we have to get better at showing what would break if our work disappeared tomorrow.The full Five-Spoke Impact Model and companion article, 85% Say It's a Priority. So Why Is L&D Still Being Cut?, are available on The Capability Edge Substack.Substack Post:https://substack.com/@candicemitchellmsc/note/p-212611003?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=73wbhnCheers to the ones who are tired of defending a function that nobody else understands.You know your work matters. Now go make it impossible to overlook.