Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between development specialists 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 specialist and a workforce development specialist. Additionally, a development specialist has an average salary of $60,344, which is higher than the $43,666 average annual salary of a workforce development specialist.
The top three skills for a development specialist include customer service, customer satisfaction and professional development. The most important skills for a workforce development specialist are social services, training programs, and HR.
| Development Specialist | Workforce Development Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $60,344 | $43,666 |
| Hourly rate | $29.01 | $20.99 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 97,188 | 80,041 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A development specialist is responsible for monitoring career training and programs for the employees, improving their capabilities and maximum potential to contribute to the company's growth and success. Development specialists also assist in assessing departmental operations, evaluating training needs, and facilitate skill development discussions and exercises. A development specialist helps identify business opportunities to generate more revenues for the organization and improve profitability status. A development specialist must have excellent communication and organization skills and comprehensive knowledge of human management to assist employees with their inquiries and concerns.
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 specialists and workforce development specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Development Specialist | Workforce Development Specialist | |
| Average salary | $60,344 | $43,666 |
| Salary range | Between $37,000 And $96,000 | Between $28,000 And $66,000 |
| Highest paying City | Edison, NJ | Roseville, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Ropes & Gray | Meta |
| Best paying industry | - | Transportation |
There are a few differences between a development specialist and a workforce development specialist in terms of educational background:
| Development Specialist | Workforce Development Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between development specialists' and workforce development specialists' demographics:
| Development Specialist | Workforce Development Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 40.5% Female, 59.5% | Male, 33.6% Female, 66.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.7% Asian, 5.8% White, 60.3% 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% |