Impact of Learning & Development on Technical Talent Retention

Abstract

This study explores the role of Learning and Development (L&D) interventions in the retention of technical talent through a systematic bibliometric review of 217 peer-reviewed articles published from 2015 to 2025. By utilizing science mapping tools like VOSviewer and Bibliometrix, the study identifies key journals, active institutions, thematic clusters, and patterns of global collaboration. The results indicate a notable uptick in output over the last decade with very high output from South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States alongside some early evidence of output from India, Spain, and Malaysia. The themes remain remarkably consistent, with talent management and retention remaining at the center, while job satisfaction, engagement, talent attraction, and COVID-19 emerged as new themes. The co-citation analysis shows that while a small number of HRD-based journals are established at the top of the field, they also had several impactful articles and sources contributing to an overall high impact. Collectively, the study shows that L&D supports workforce stability as a strategic anchor with evidence of global collaboration contributing to understanding the process of L&D and variation in context.