Less educated workers are five times less likely to participate in job-related adult learning. When they do participate, they are almost twice as likely to report that learning helped them achieve a positive outcome such as more income or a promotion. The best use of training resources is to target those with the least education.

One in three workers reports having unmet training needs. Workers who already received some training were more likely to report an unmet need than workers who receive no training. And among those, the least educated were least likely to report unmet training needs. This may reflect their job, but could also reflect lack of understanding about the benefits of training.

Government and individuals pay for most basic education; employers and individuals pay for training courses. Public education institutions offer 75% of all adult education and training programs – a selection of courses and 25% of all training courses.

A 1990 survey clearly documents the need for workplace education in Canada ^{Footnote 5}:

• 70% of businesses confirmed a need for basic skills training in some part of their organization.
• Up to 20% of the firms identified a need among supervisors for literacy and upgrading training.
• Up to 80% of workers in low skill jobs need literacy and upgrading training.
• The most affected sectors include accommodation and food, municipal governments and manufacturing.

Research shows that many people work at jobs that do not fully use their potential. Workers can lose skills if they don’t use them. To maintain workers’ essential skills, employers need to design jobs to include elements of teamwork, communication, critical thinking, problem solving and decision making. Careful attention to job design can:

• Help workers maintain essential skills and encourage them to learn new skills;
• Provide job satisfaction and help create opportunities for individual achievement and recognition; and
• Create an environment to increase worker productivity and help employers retain workers.

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