Training budgets are set to increase by an average of 8% this year, according to research by blended learning publisher Balance Learning

The company asked 94 training professionals about their corporate training budgets and how the money will be spent over the next 12 months.

Almost half - 46% - of organisations said they would increase their training budgets in 2004.

The majority - 51% - will see an increase of up to 5% but 21% of organisations will increase their budgets by over 25%.

One third will keep budget levels the same as 2003 and 16% will cut their budgets this year and 5% have yet to confirm their plans.

The financial services and retail sectors will benefit most from training budget increases. They respectively account for a third and a fifth of all increases over 20%.

In those organisations where budgets are being cut, 47% are making only small reductions of up to 2.5%.

A quarter will cut budgets by 7.5%-15% this year, with just 1% cutting budgets by more than 25%.

Telecommunications appears to be the hardest-hit sector, with two thirds of telecoms companies planning to make cuts of over 10%.

Among organisations that are cutting budgets 46% will reduce the amount of classroom training they provide.

However, 87% will increase their proportionate spend on e-learning and 53% will spend more on blended learning solutions in 2004.

* More details of the survey are available at the Balance Learning website.