Companies have slashed their training budgets for the second straight year by about 11 percent, according to a soon-to-be-released study by Bersin & Associates. Course libraries and open enrollment in training is disappearing in favor of targeted training (and this may be one reason for this decision). Employees are getting about 13 hours of formal training a year, down from the 25 averaged two years ago.

We've blogged about on-the-job training before; it's something that companies really need to invest in because you can't expect someone to pick up everything about your complicated work environment without getting some help (this may be why some companies are finding it tough to get the talent they need).

Anyway. There's only so much you can do on your own, for free. When employers cut training budgets and hours, it's bad news for everybody.