Why Training Supervisor Is a Hot Job Right Now

One of the most in-demand jobs on LinkedIn is one many wouldn’t suspect: training supervisor. 

Globally, there was a 4.7x increase in job posts for “training supervisor” on LinkedIn in Q2 2022 compared to Q1 2022. And according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the United States, training supervisors are projected to grow 11% from 2020 to 2030 (faster than the average for all occupations). 

Training supervisors give employees the tools, structures, and support to gain skills, succeed, and advance in their respective jobs. 

Restaurant Industry: Training is critical for workers entering the field or looking to advance

Ever-evolving safety precautions. COVID closures. Continuous staff turnover. The last few years have brought an onslaught of changes to the restaurant industry. 

According to the National Restaurant Association’s 2022 State of the Restaurant Industry report, which surveyed 3,000 restaurant operators across the United States, half of restaurant operators said recruiting and retaining workers was their biggest challenge in 2022 — and 75% of operators expected to devote more resources to recruiting and retaining employees in 2022. Both of these trends are expected to continue into 2023. 

“There’s a much greater focus on training than ever before because restaurants have had a lot of turnover in the last few years, and many employees are new to the industry,” says Rachel Richal, vice president, training, Buffalo Wild Wings and president of the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART). “We’re having to train our team members to adjust quicker and be more agile than before. Training teaches them not only how to do their job, but also new skills that they didn’t need before the pandemic. So we need more people on the ground to help support the training.”

And the need for training is visible all across the restaurant industry. 

David Faro, senior manager of workforce and business development at the National Restaurant Association, says that training can also help with employee retention in the restaurant industry. He says “rapid upskilling” is key to helping employees find their footing in their first restaurant industry job and gain the skills to advance. 

“People are now realizing that a great part of a sustainable business model for hospitality is effective training,” David says. “Employees really appreciate good training — whether it’s onboarding or professional development. We’re trying to give people pathways to promotion in the restaurant industry. That happens through training much more rapidly than on-the-job acumen — and when on-the-job learning is combined with good training, it becomes really powerful.”  

Retail Industry: Training is needed for critical thinking, problem solving, and tech skills

According to the National Retail Federation, 1 in 4 U.S. jobs — just over 52 million jobs — lie within the retail industry. Despite retail making up a large segment of the U.S. workforce, 31% of all frontline retail employees say they do not receive any formal workplace training, according to Axonify’s 2019 State of Frontline Workplace Training Study.

Training supervisors and more formal training programs could be the answer to some of the retention and growth issues the retail industry is facing. 

“There has always been a need for training supervisors in the retail industry —and with inflation, COVID and supply chain issues, there are more and more complexities in what used to be a simpler environment,” says Adam Lukoskie, who as vice president at the National Retail Federation’s nonprofit arm, the NRF Foundation, oversees a nationwide training and credentialing program that prepares people to advance in roles in retail and beyond.

Adam also says the purpose of training supervisors is multifaceted in the retail industry. “We’re seeing skills gaps,” he says, “where employees need additional development, in areas like critical thinking and problem solving. And some lack technology skills, so we’re needing to provide even more training than before.”

Healthcare Industry: Training can address enormous talent shortages

The COVID-19 pandemic has sent the healthcare industry into disarray, leaving frontline workers to pick up the pieces. Today, workers in the healthcare and hospital industry are still fighting the pandemic — and ongoing burnout and fatigue. 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projections, over 275,000 additional nurses will be needed in the United States between 2020 and 2030. At the same time, a Bain & Company report reveals 25% of U.S. clinicians are considering switching careers.

Amid short staffing and high-pressure jobs, the shortage of healthcare workers is only exacerbated by training shortages. 

“Especially in the nursing field, we’re seeing a pattern repeated: everyone wants experienced workers, but lacks the capacity to train the new folks, so they are stealing talent from each other,” says Van Ton-Quinlivan, chief executive officer of Futuro Health, a nonprofit working to address the nation’s healthcare worker shortage. “We need to figure out a way to break this cycle — and that includes investing in the training capacity to grow brand new workers.” 

It’s all the more important to end this cycle in the healthcare industry because its workers need educational credentials to even be considered for an interview.  

And as the healthcare industry looks to fill many open jobs this decade, Van says intentional training and ongoing education helps employees not only find their first job in the healthcare field, but to build a healthcare career where they can see themselves long-term.  

Training supervisors can help onboard employees to broadly understand the healthcare landscape and organization itself. “When it comes to navigating careers, let’s shift from passing down institutional knowledge haphazardly — where only certain workers who happen to find a mentor to help get career guidance — to having someone whose role it is to help workers decode the careers paths and their options.” 

Final thoughts 

According to LinkedIn’s 2022 Workplace Learning Report, 87% of L&D pros agree that learning has helped their organization become more adaptable to change. And employees are equally enthusiastic about learning at work: Employees rank opportunities to learn and grow as the No. 1 driver of great work culture according to LinkedIn’s Skills Advantage Report. 

In a tumultuous time for the global economy, where new technology and the evolving COVID-19 pandemic continue to change the ways we work, training and learning remain mission-critical priorities for any organization looking to upskill and retain their employees. 

*Photo by Jason Goodman on Unsplash

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