A 2026 Harris Poll for EdAssist by Bright Horizons finds 77% of workers would stay for a clear internal path. Why learning without a path is a leaky bucket.
Key takeaways
- The 2026 Education Index, commissioned by EdAssist by Bright Horizons and conducted by The Harris Poll, reports that 77% of employed workers would prefer to stay with their current employer if clear internal advancement paths exist (Bright Horizons).
- The authors say access to learning is no longer the main barrier: 83% of employees are already motivated, and organisations are already investing.
- The "cliff" is the drop between building a skill and using it for a bigger role. It opens when learning programmes are not connected to real roles, pathways and manager support.
- Our reading: if you only measure course completions, you can fund learning for years and still lose the people you trained.
Last updated · Bodhih Insights team · reviewed by Siddharthan VGJ, Founder
A year later they resign, and the skill leaves with them.
A 2026 report from Bright Horizons gives that pattern a name: the mobility cliff.
A note on sources: we reviewed the figures above as reported from the Bright Horizons publication and its press coverage, not the full dataset. Check the original before quoting them. The India implications and the framework below are our interpretation, not findings of the study.
Two Systems That Never Meet
In most companies, learning and advancement run on separate tracks. L&D owns the catalogue and reports completions and satisfaction. HR and business leaders own promotions, role changes and succession, usually on a different calendar, with different criteria.
Neither team is doing anything wrong. But the employee sits between them, and from where they stand the message is: we asked you to learn, and we did not say what it is for.
That is why motivated people stall. Motivation is not the missing ingredient. Direction is.
Why This Matters More in India Right Now
We have written recently about job hugging, where employees stay put in a cautious market, and about the great flattening, where fewer management layers mean fewer promotion rungs. Put these side by side with the mobility cliff and a pattern appears:
- With fewer layers, the "next role" is often sideways or bigger in scope, not a title jump. Employees need to see that route to count it as progress.
- With AI changing task mixes, roles are being redrawn. People who learn AI skills on their own often have nowhere to use them; the result is the two-speed workforce problem.
- When people do stay, staying without growth quietly turns into disengagement.
A learning programme without a visible destination makes all three worse.
The Leaky Bucket Test
Here is a quick check you can run in an afternoon. Pick the last programme you ran for a cohort and ask four questions:
- Which roles does this skill qualify someone for? If nobody can name them, there is no path.
- Who opens the door? A named manager or sponsor, not "HR will look into it".
- Within 90 days, where was the skill used on real work? A stretch task, a project, a client call.
- How many of the cohort moved, grew in scope, or took on new work in 12 months? Compare with those who did not attend.
If you cannot answer questions 1 and 4, you have a bucket with water going in and no one checking the level.
Building the Bridge: A 5-Step Approach
- Start from roles, not courses. Define 5 to 10 target roles and the capabilities each needs. A skill gap analysis turns this into a map.
- Assess where people actually are. Use assessments and psychometric profiles so development plans are specific, not generic.
- Make managers the bridge. The manager decides which stretch work an employee gets. Train them to hold career conversations, give feedback and sponsor growth. This is the core of coaching for managers.
- Attach practice to the learning. Every programme ends with a live assignment, not a quiz.
- Track movement, not just completion. Report internal moves, scope increases and retention of trained cohorts next to the usual training metrics.
How Bodhih Helps
Bodhih designs programmes that connect development to actual roles and business outcomes:
- Skill Gap Analysis and Assessments to map capability against target roles.
- Leadership Skills Training and First-Time Manager Training so managers can sponsor careers.
- Coaching for Managers to turn learning into on-the-job behaviour.
- A Learning Management Platform to track learning pathways in one place.
Explore the full range on our corporate training solutions page.
The Bigger Idea
Companies tend to ask, "Did people complete the training?" The better question is, "Did the training lead anywhere?"
Learning is the start of a career move, not the end of one. When employees can see where a new skill will take them, and a manager who will help them get there, the training budget stops leaking.
Frequently asked questions
What is the mobility cliff?
It is the term used in the Bright Horizons 2026 Education Index for the gap between building new skills and turning them into career advancement, which tends to appear when learning is not tied to roles, pathways or manager support.
What did the 2026 Education Index find about internal advancement?
As reported, 77% of employed workers would prefer to stay with their current employer if clear internal advancement paths exist, and 83% of employees are already motivated to learn.
Does training improve employee retention?
It can, but the report's framing suggests learning works best for retention when paired with a visible path to a bigger role. Training with no destination may simply make people more employable elsewhere.
How can L&D teams connect learning to internal mobility?
Map target roles and required skills, assess current capability, involve managers as sponsors, attach live practice to every programme, and track moves and retention in addition to completions.
What should managers do to support career growth?
Hold regular career conversations, assign stretch work linked to the new skill, give timely feedback and advocate for employees in talent reviews.
Where do the facts in this article come from?
From the Bright Horizons 2026 Education Index article and related press coverage. We have not reviewed the full dataset.
