ATTTO Projects

Workforce Literacy

What is workforce literacy?

Workforce literacy describes the skills needed for effective performance in today’s workplaces including: speaking, listening, numeracy, using technology, reading, writing, problem solving and critical thinking.
Common literacy tasks in the workplace include:

• Following production schedules and standard operating procedures
• Understanding health and safety requirements
• Estimating quantity and weight
• Reading and recording product codes
• Contributing in team meetings
• Finding a solution if a problem occurs

Literacy involves a whole range of skills, not simply reading, writing and arithmetic. It involves communication and problem-solving, and affects how well people work together in teams, and whether firms can introduce new technology and new approaches in the workplace. 

Workforce literacy limits New Zealand’s ability to develop a high growth, high wage economy. It affects New Zealanders ability to reach their potential and to succeed in employment and in society.
Developing our workforce is essential to achieve higher and sustainable economic growth.

The issues:

Workforce literacy issues and their impacts are significant.

• The literacy demands in industry and workplaces are growing.
• New Zealand’s success depends on a workforce with the skills to support economic growth and competitive success.
• An estimated 42% of employed New Zealanders have difficulty with some of the literacy demands on the job.
• Sixty percent of our current workforce will still be working in 2020.

Low workforce literacy limits the ability of New Zealanders to increase productivity, innovate, and to meet changing customer and market demands.

Higher levels of literacy, numeracy and communication are needed for almost all jobs. New technologies, products and services, markets, production systems, ways of working and greater compliance are features in most industries.

How literacy affects companies

Low literacy levels impede employees’ choice and success in the labour market and  significantly affect employability, career advancement, income and life long learning. Low literacy skills among employees limit company growth.

• Employees are less flexible.
• Companies have trouble finding people with appropriate skills.
• Employers need to re-skill existing employees but cannot because of literacy issues.
• Employees are not able to take on new work.

What is ATTTO doing?

Upskilling Partnership Programme

ATTTO is a partner in the Upskilling Partnership Programme, a multi agency initiative led by the Department of Labour.

This programme forms partnerships to support employers in building and sustaining literacy skills training in the workplace.  Led by the Department of Labour, the initiative involves a number of different agencies working together. The partnerships also involve a variety of stakeholders, including providers, unions and industry training organisations.

Designed to assist employees and raise demand for literacy and numeracy skills training in the workplace, the Upskilling Partnership Programme is part of the New Zealand Skills Strategy.

Workforce Literacy Strategy

ATTTO has also partnered with Workbase to develop a Workforce Literacy Strategy. This Strategy will address the need to improve the literacy, language and numeracy skills within tourism, travel, aviation and museum workplaces.

< back to The Role of ATTTO 

Workbase partners with ITOs to identify the literacy demands in their industries and to develop strategies to build the literacy skills needed within the workforce.

Click here to contact Workbase for more information on workplace literacy.