Foundational Skills: Early Insights from Employers and Providers

Chelsea Miller

Associate Director

Reading, writing, English language proficiency, numeracy, and digital skills are the building blocks of everything else, from effective job performance to further learning and advancement. Skipping over or assuming these foundational skills are in place can lead to frustration for employers and employees alike.

Over the last several months, UpSkill America has interviewed more than a dozen employers from a variety of industries across the United States about how and why they invest in foundational skills development for incumbent employees and in the talent pipeline. We have also interviewed foundational education providers, including technology-based platform leaders, college partners, community-based organizations, and intermediary organizations, which employers rely on to support their training needs.

Our intent with this body of work is to shed light on employers’ perspectives on foundational skills, how skill deficiencies impact business, and especially the strategies and approaches employers leverage to help workers build their skills. This brief describes our early findings, identifying emerging themes and implications for the field. Over the next six months, we will continue to conduct interviews and release additional insights about how employers consider and prioritize foundational skills in their workforce strategies, and how education providers are responding.