‘Corporate learning market growing fast’

Indian companies are fast cashing in on the growing demand for corporate learning. Online education platform Coursera has entered this space.

B-schools such as ISB are witnessing more takers and executive education provider Northwest has also seen a growth rate of over 30 per cent in enrolments over the last five years.

According to industry estimates, the global corporate learning market is pegged at over $30 billion. The market consists of executive education providers, skilling and training companies, as well as business schools offering courses to mid-career professionals.

“An interesting trend is the growing demand from the various departments of the Central and State governments. The Centre for Executive Education at ISB has been offering custom designed programmes for departments such as the Ministry of External Affairs, State Police Departments, Higher Education, and the Railways, apart from some leading PSUs,” a spokesperson from ISB told

ISB’s flagship Post-Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) has witnessed a 28 per cent increase in applications this year as against the previous year. PGP’s class size has increased from 128 students in 2002, to 905 at present.

Apart from business schools, even Coursera has sensed a business opportunity. While it will soon tie up with an Indian IT company to re-skill engineers in data science, it has partnered with LG Electronics in South Korea, L'Oréal in Europe, and BNY Mellon and BCG in the US to impart training.

“We believe that in three years, corporate learning market will be a significant part of our revenue. The number of learners in this space will be lower but it is a big revenue opportunity for the company,” Nikhil Sinha, Chief Business Officer, Coursera, said recently.

Northwest Executive Education, which engages with individual learners looking to enhance their knowledge, skills and expertise and growth in their careers, is currently serving markets in India, West Asia, and South Asia but is already enrolling participants for its programmes from the US, Europe and Africa etc.

“Including all available programmes from top tier universities being offered in India, more than 10,000 executives currently ask about the prospects of joining a programme. Over 2,000 executives are currently enrolling in some programme every year, and this number is growing at a very fast pace, with a growth rate of 30-50 per cent over the last five years,” said Mohit Jain, Co-Founder, Northwest Executive Education.

According to NIIT’s financial results for the second quarter of financial year 2016-17, its Corporate Learning Group (CLG) recorded net revenues of ₹178.6 crore, up 23 per cent year-on-year. Managed Training Services (MTS) continued to grow, contributing 94 per cent to the total CLG revenue.

This is on the back of increasing company budget allocation towards corporate training. Global expansion of businesses and gearing up for domestic as well as global competition have been major growth drivers for the market.

“Company budget allocation towards corporate training has seen a five-year high since the beginning of this year as it has proved to be a strategic tool for enhancing employee retention. Training programmes have evolved from being just a tool for employee skill upgradation to a medium for developing strategic initiatives for streamlining business goals,” Sanjeev Duggal, CEO and MD, Centum Learning said.