After the one–time provincial funding was used to establish the placement sites, the program recognized that it would need to pay an instructor to develop and maintain links with employers, to establish students at their placement sites, and to provide ongoing support to students at their placement sites. This kind of work would require an instructor who did not have her own class. Such a position became a problem with the program's funder because it meant the instructor did not have direct contact with students in a class setting, a primary condition of program funding. Despite this, the position was eventually built into the program's budget on a trial basis, but continues to be scrutinized each year by the funder. Another concern for the program was the erosion of contact hours when students were in their job placements. Although the students were still involved in the program, the hours they spent in a job placement could not be counted as contact hours because they were not physically in the program with an instructor.

The employment preparation program is part of the larger literacy program offered by the school board. The complete program is situated in a former vocational high school near the centre of the city. It shares a small portion of the available space in the school with second language programs and general interest continuing education classes. All of the programs in the school are for adults. The remaining space in the school was unused at the time of the study, except for the occasional rental of the gymnasium or auditorium by other schools and community groups. The general literacy program has moved locations four times in ten years. Finding secure space within the school board is an ongoing issue.

The three instructors in the program are women, as are all but one of the 14 instructors in the general literacy program. They work on a contractual basis, receive an hourly wage with only the minimum legislated benefits (vacation time), and renew their contracts every three to four months. During the 16 weeks of the year that aren't covered by contract, the instructors are unpaid; a common practice is to apply for employment benefits during the summer months, the longest stretch of non–teaching time. Instructors, with the exception of Carrie, are paid only for direct 'contact hours' or the time spent actively delivering instruction; they are not paid for preparation, assessment, curriculum development, or marking. One of the employment preparation instructors is a recently retired elementary school teacher. Another instructor spent the majority of her career working with adults who had developmental disabilities. The third had a varied career as a tutor for children (K–12), a high school French teacher, and an educational assessor. Their experience working with adult literacy students varies from one year to four years.