According to estimates by employment law firm Clifford Chance, the market for e-learning is expected to grow 96 percent over the next five years. And while only 20 percent of corporate learning took place electronically in 1999, that could double by 2003, according to a study by the Corporate University Exchange.

Nearly 50 percent of the respondents to EE Times' "2001 Salary & Opinion Survey" said they were concerned or very concerned about the amount of training or education that companies offer employees. And with 83 percent of respondents confident of their clear career goals, the pressure on employers is set to increase; they must continue to offer training incentives to their employees in order to remain competitive.

"In technology and engineering-related professions, the ability of enterprises to hire and retain talented engineers is becoming increasingly [tested]," said Amnon Aliphas, president and chief executive officer of electronics resource and information site TechOnline. "This situation has led to companies' increasing their training and education opportunities for current employees as well as hiring less skilled individuals and then training them [to bring them] up to speed.

"Not too long ago, this situation meant that employers would send workers to a local university to take a few technical courses or a costly seminar at some distant location. Now, employees are taking courses or getting information and resources online.

"Online learning has rapidly been gaining favor because it can be more quickly deployed. It is also more flexible, gives employees in dispersed locations increased training opportunities, and reduces travel and lost-opportunity costs."

Many advanced online learning systems include "real-life" simulations and complex graphics, as well as Webcasts and community areas in which peers share ideas and problems. Courses are available on such topics as digital signal processing, embedded systems, neural networking and communications; many offer Q&A sessions with experts from academia and industry.

Online learning will never replace the university, but it may become part of university education to the extent that a tutor may assume a support role rather than function as the main fount of knowledge.

For employees, the main advantage of online training is the flexibility to choose when, where and how to do their learning. For employers, it means staffers are no longer locked away in training rooms for days at a time, and it can be substantially cheaper than conventional training.

In the wake of the terrorist attacks on the United States, businesses around the world are inevitably taking stock of all aspects of their operations. In this tougher economic climate, training, at least in the short term, is unlikely to be at the top of many people's agenda.

But longer term, the need for people to be challenged and developed in the workplace will not go away.

Stephanie Gordon is community leader for www.theworkcircuit.com.