Literacy and numeracy

Literacy and numeracy are significant issues for many New Zealand workplaces.

Workplace literacy and numeracy is about a whole range of skills, not simply whether people can read or write. It is about how well they can do these things, their communication skills, how well people work in teams, and whether firms can introduce new technology and approaches.

Research in many industries has consistently suggested that about 20% of New Zealand's workforce don't have the literacy and numeracy skills needed to perform at their best in their jobs.

Literacy and numeracy skill issues reveal themselves in lower productivity, higher error rates, inability to understand and follow business procedures, and can be a key barrier to learning new skills and thus addressing skill and labour shortages and our aging workforces.

A key driver of these issues is ever increasing demands for literacy and numeracy skills in the workplace, through greater computerisation, higher customer demands, a greater need for team work, and the demand for higher productivity.

ITOs are working hard with their industries to address these range of issues.

Key Steps forward for Workforce Literacy

In partnership with Business NZ, the NZ CTU and Workbase (the national centre for workplace literacy and numeracy), the ITF has produced a blueprint for addressing workforce literacy issues:

 Key Steps Forward for Workforce Literacy (2046KB)

ITO Literacy and Numeracy Good Practice Project

Click here to visit the web pages of the Good Practice Project