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What Should Your Training Budget Look Like?

If you’ve ever tried to research training budgets for your company and come away feeling unseen, you’re not alone. Many reports and benchmarks consider “small” businesses to be those with up to 500 employees—but that doesn’t reflect the day-to-day reality for most small construction firms.

At Building PPL, we know the definition of “small” looks a little different. That’s why we took a deeper dive into data that actually makes sense for companies with fewer than 100 employees—just like yours.

So, What Should Your Training Budget Be?

The Industry Standard

General recommendations suggest allocating between 1% and 3% of your total salary budget to employee training. You might find some sources suggesting as high as 5%, but based on our conversations with clients and peers in learning and development, 2% to 3% feels like the sweet spot—a grounded, realistic target for most smaller firms.

What the Data Shows

We analyzed budget data from 15 construction companies with fewer than 100 employees and found:

90% of these companies invest roughly $3,000 per employee annually in training.

That number aligns closely with the 2–3% benchmark, especially in an industry where safety, compliance, and skill development are top priorities.

What About You?

  • How much are you investing in training each year?

  • Do your numbers fall in the 2–3% salary range?

  • Are you hitting that $3,000 per person target?

  • Most importantly—what training investments have worked best for you?

Ready to talk training strategy?

Reach out to our team to explore how we can help you build a right-sized training program that fits your budget and supports your workforce.

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about Paige Garland

We’re Building PPL

we pave the path to success for fast-growing construction companies like yours

We help fast-growing construction companies overcome team challenges and build the processes needed to create thriving, self-sufficient and engaged employees.

Our team dives deep to help you design plans that address the pain you have now and reach the goals you want to achieve tomorrow.

Building PPL Boston, MA

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