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The differences between development officers and workforce development specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a development officer and a workforce development specialist. Additionally, a development officer has an average salary of $78,541, which is higher than the $43,666 average annual salary of a workforce development specialist.
The top three skills for a development officer include stewardship, alumni and customer service. The most important skills for a workforce development specialist are social services, training programs, and HR.
| Development Officer | Workforce Development Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $78,541 | $43,666 |
| Hourly rate | $37.76 | $20.99 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 105,553 | 80,041 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Development Officers are responsible for managing the learning and development of an organization's workforce. Their duties include identifying development needs through job analysis and cross-team consultation, implementing training programs, producing training materials, and monitoring trainees' progress through questionnaires and appraisal schemes. They are also involved in conducting cost-budgeting for programs and organizing support sessions with trainers and managers to address issues. A Development Officer attends meetings, reads journals, and researches new workplace learning methodologies to access the most current solutions.
A workforce development specialist is responsible for designing and conducting training and development programs to significantly improve organizational and individual performance. You will perform a few duties that include evaluating training delivery modes, such as virtual or in-person to optimize training effectiveness and costs, developing, obtaining, or organizing training guides and procedure manuals, and coordinating the placement of trainees. As a workforce development specialist, you also have to choose and assign training instructors and negotiating contracts with clients.
Development officers and workforce development specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Development Officer | Workforce Development Specialist | |
| Average salary | $78,541 | $43,666 |
| Salary range | Between $50,000 And $122,000 | Between $28,000 And $66,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | Roseville, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Mayo Clinic | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Transportation |
There are a few differences between a development officer and a workforce development specialist in terms of educational background:
| Development Officer | Workforce Development Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between development officers' and workforce development specialists' demographics:
| Development Officer | Workforce Development Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 46.0% Female, 54.0% | Male, 33.6% Female, 66.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 6.4% White, 60.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 5.8% White, 58.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 12% |