What does employee training actually cost?
The dual ROI calculator for L&D teams. Compare the cost of training against the cost of NOT training — then screenshot it for your CFO.
Team Details
Number of employees to be trained
Fully loaded salary per employee
Total hours away from core work
Effectiveness: 65% — LMS-delivered courses, videos, quizzes
Training Costs
License, course, or materials cost
Total for the whole cohort
Transport, hotel, meals (0 for virtual)
Annual platform or license fee
Risk Factors (without training)
Your team's current annual churn rate
Salary pool % lost to mistakes, rework, wasted effort
Potential fines or regulatory cost if untrained
Cost of Training
$20.9K
$837 per employee
Cost of NOT Training
$590.6K
per year, if training is skipped
ROI Projection
Net benefit = cost of not training saved − training investment. Refresh cost in years 2+ = 30% of year 1.
1-Year Return
$569.7K
ROI: +2723%
3-Year Return
$1.74M
ROI: +5193%
5-Year Return
$2.91M
ROI: +6316%
Break-even Point
Training investment pays back in < 1 month
Model Assumptions
- • Untrained employees are 2× more likely to leave (LinkedIn Learning 2023)
- • Replacement cost = 90% of annual salary (SHRM median: 50–200%)
- • Untrained employees make 60% more mistakes (ASTD research)
- • Productivity gap modelled as 15% of salary pool per year
- • Refresh training in years 2+ costs 30% of initial investment
Need help building your L&D business case?
Digital Signet helps organisations design training programmes, select LMS platforms, and quantify L&D ROI for leadership.