I manage a team of 8 java developers. Our training funds were just cut in half, but I still have around $12k for the rest of this year. We've been creative in our training plans. Sr developers mentor and train the less experienced during lunch-n-learns (company picks up the tab). I've gotten the blessing from managment to allot time (2 days a month) for developers to work on open-source projects (Struts, Tomcat, or their own) during work time. I'm also building a small reference library (books, cd-roms), as well as sending folks to traditional classroom courses.
I think companies - especially ones that do development - should allow for training, but be flexible enough to provide the right kind of training based on the individuals learning style. Whether it be reading books, conferences, classrooms, web-based or simply writing code.
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I think companies - especially ones that do development - should allow for training, but be flexible enough to provide the right kind of training based on the individuals learning style. Whether it be reading books, conferences, classrooms, web-based or simply writing code.