More and more companies are taking up, or are considering taking up, online training, according to a new survey. A survey of 1021 organisations by CMRC for Corous showed that almost 30% had already used online staff development programmes, and another 30% were thinking about it.

The survey, which sampled companies with more than 500 employees, revealed that businesses are not planning to reduce their training budgets for next year, despite the current downturn in the economy.

Advantages of online learning cited included individual time-allocation to it, convenience and flexibility. Disadvantages listed were its impersonal nature and lack of interaction with teachers or peers, lack of personal feedback, unsuitability for some subejcts, and the need for a degree of computer literacy before studying.

The research showed that the percentage of staff with a PC on their desk and access to the internet and e-mail ranged from 38% for the wholesale and retail sector up to around 90% for national government.

The survey of 1,021 companies with 500+ employees was carried out by telephone by CMRC (Croydon Market Research Centre) between January 11 and February 4, 2002.