This paper examines the characteristics and education and training patterns of adults in employment who have low literacy or numeracy skills. It provides information on:
- their personal and job characteristics and their use of literacy and numeracy skills at work
- where they are located in the labour market, that is, which industries and occupations employ relatively high proportions of workers with low literacy or numeracy skills
- their further education and training rates and patterns.
The study uses data collected in the Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) Survey, which measured the English-language literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills of a representative sample of New Zealand residents during the 2005–2007 period.
The information in this paper can be used to better understand the characteristics and current learning rates and patterns of workers whose foundation skills are weak, and to help identify the industries and occupations that have greatest literacy and numeracy training needs.