Report finds half of workers struggle with literacy and numeracy

Industry is being called on to work with the education sector to improve learning, literacy and numeracy levels, as a report warns that about half of working-age Australians suffer from these problems, and the situation may be worsening.

The report by the Industry Skills Councils, which is made up of 11 sectoral-specific skills councils, says that approximately 53% of working age Australians have difficulty with numeracy skills, while 46% of Australian adults have difficulty with reading skills and 13% are classified in the lowest literacy category.

The report, called No More Excuses, blames inadequately prepared workforce entrants; limited access to language, literacy and numeracy expertise; an ageing workforce; the increasing use of technology; increasing compliance requirements; and demand for higher skills for the dire findings.

The Industry Skills Councils warns that millions of Australians have insufficient language, literacy and numeracy skills to benefit fully from training or to participate effectively at work, and is calling for industry and education to work together to improve the situation.

“Employers are increasingly reporting that they have learning, literacy and numeracy (LLN) problems in their existing workforce and that the LLN skills of new recruits are inadequate,” the report says.

“Nothing less than a coordinated response to the LLN challenge will succeed,” it goes onto say, calling for the Council of Australian Government to establish an overarching blueprint for action.

Its recommendations include better identification of the LLN skills of learners before training, and the de-stigmatisation of LLN skills development.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry says the report backs its own research, although Mary Hicks, director of education and training, says Australia is not below global standards.

“It’s not just Australia’s problem, but it is a problem,” Hicks says.

“In terms of the basics, I think that the benchmarks that we have now in the schools are really good.”

“Quite often, these problems come from students leaving schools. We’ve got this huge problem with existing workers not having enough skills to do their job effectively.”

Megan Lilly, director – education and training from the Australian Industry Group, says it’s a “major concern” that more than four million Australians are currently at work without sufficient levels of language, literacy and numeracy to meet the needs of the modern economy.

“We will continue to struggle to meet our productivity challenge unless we can address such fundamental issues,” Lilly told SmartCompany.

“Improvements in literacy levels will help us meet both our economic and broader social objectives.”