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The differences between employee 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 an employee development specialist and a workforce development specialist. Additionally, an employee development specialist has an average salary of $65,142, which is higher than the $43,666 average annual salary of a workforce development specialist.
The top three skills for an employee development specialist include employee development, training programs and customer service. The most important skills for a workforce development specialist are social services, training programs, and HR.
| Employee Development Specialist | Workforce Development Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $65,142 | $43,666 |
| Hourly rate | $31.32 | $20.99 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 72,717 | 80,041 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An employee development specialist is in charge of helping employees advance their skills and careers in a company. They conduct interviews and evaluations, assess the employees' skills, conduct research and analyses, and develop conclusions and recommendations from the research findings. An employee development specialist may also participate in developing training and assessment programs, facilitating training courses, and reaching out to external parties. Moreover, they lead and encourage staff to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
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.
Employee development specialists and workforce development specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Employee Development Specialist | Workforce Development Specialist | |
| Average salary | $65,142 | $43,666 |
| Salary range | Between $46,000 And $91,000 | Between $28,000 And $66,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Roseville, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | - | Meta |
| Best paying industry | - | Transportation |
There are a few differences between an employee development specialist and a workforce development specialist in terms of educational background:
| Employee Development Specialist | Workforce Development Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between employee development specialists' and workforce development specialists' demographics:
| Employee Development Specialist | Workforce Development Specialist | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 44.9% Female, 55.1% | Male, 33.6% Female, 66.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% 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% |