Survey of Adult Skills: Skills and training at work

The big picture NZ scores above the OECD average in literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments Differences in skills proficiency related to age, gender, education and social background are less pronounced in NZ than in other countries but sharp ethnic differences exist, particularly for Māori and Pacific peoples NZ-born adults who speak English as a second language are over- represented among adults with low proficiency In NZ, higher proficiency in literacy and numeracy has a positive impact on labour force participation and wages There is a relationship between literacy levels and levels of trust in others, political efficacy, participation in volunteer activities and self-reported health

Skills levels and use Professional, scientific and technical services industry workers are the highest skilled and administration and support services the lowest Reading, writing and problem solving skills are used on average less than once a week at work (NB: self reported) The extent of the use of reading skills accounts for 26% - 32% of the variation in labour productivity across countries NZ shows a weak correlation between the use of reading skills at work and productivity

Who gets training NZ ranks higher than OECD average for participation in formal and informal training People working in low-skilled occupations spend fewer hours in formal training than those in high-skilled and are more likely to have no learning activities In New Zealand, the industries with the lowest participation rates in on-the-job learning in the 12 months before the survey are: accommodation and food service activities (35%) administrative and support service activities (32%) agriculture, forestry and fishing (30%).

Productivity and use of reading skills

Who is qualified for what? NZ’s rates of over-qualification are very high with 32% of NZers believing they are over qualified for their job Rates of qualification mismatch and field-of-study mismatch are higher in NZ (50%) than in other OECD countries Levels of skill mismatch in literacy are similar to other countries

How qualified people say they are

Discussion What types of tasks do people in our industry perform and how much literacy, numeracy and problem solving is involved? How often do we provide workers with the opportunity to use and/or grow their skills and why might this be important? To what extent is there likely to be a skills mismatch in our industry? Do we have over/under qualified workers? Slide 5 shows NZers have one of the highest rates of reading skill use at work in the OECD (around once a week), yet our productivity is low in comparison to other countries – what might be happening to cause this? Is there anything we could do differently in order to improve skill use and skill matching at work?

Methodology PIAAC measures adults’ skills in: Literacy Numeracy Problem-solving in technology-rich environments PIAAC gathers background data on education, employment, skills and qualifications required for work and used at home PIAAC enables us to explore relationships between skills, education and employment, controlling for linguistic and socio-demographic factors

Where to find more information NZ PIAAC reports: Skills in New Zealand and Around the World Skills and Work Skills and Education Available at: http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/survey_of_adult_skills

Where this information comes from Ministry of Education, & Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. 2016a). Skills and Education: Survey of Adult Skills. http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/ survey_of_adult_skills Ministry of Education, & Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. 2016b). Skills at Work: Survey of Adult Skills. https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/ 173572/Skills-at-Work.pdf Ministry of Education, & Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. 2016c). Skills in New Zealand and Around the World: Survey of Adult Skills. http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/ survey_of_adult_skills OECD. (2016). Skills Matter New Zealand. http://www.oecd.org/skills/piaac/Skills-Matter-New-Zealand.pdf

How to find out more for yourself Information on ‘Public Data & Analysis’: http://www.oecd.org/site/piaac/publicdataandanalysis.htm OECD’s ‘PIAAC Gateway’ website ‘Data Tools › Datasets and Tools’ http://piaacgateway.com/datasets/ has tools to analyse the dataset Guide: What You Need to Consider: https://piaac.squarespace.com/s/WorkingWithPIAACData_022015.pdf

Acknowledgements The Industry Training Federation gratefully acknowledges the work of The National Centre of Literacy and Numeracy for Adults and the Ministry of Education in developing this resource.