Questions about workplace literacy will be prominent in the 1990s. One question concerns the spread of workplace programming. There have been many widely circulated arguments about the importance of literacy, or what are often called "basic skills," in the labour force. It is pointed out that workers with adequate basic skills allow for (text-based) training; and that they may exercise the initiative and the flexible problem-solving ability that can make an enterprise more efficient. Indeed, a Conference Board of Canada survey exploring the absence of basic skills indicates that one third or more of employers experience workforce basic skills-related problems with training, job reassignment, product quality, or the introduction of new technology. Yet the same survey shows that less than 10% of employers are involved in literacy programs, or even have counselling and referral supporting employees' study.¹⁷⁹ Businesses usually take programming initiatives only when confronted with a "crisis" situation, involving, e.g., health and safety (employers may be subject to legislation requiring that workers be informed of health and safety dangers and procedures), or training requirements associated with technological change.¹⁸⁰ Business has often been reluctant to make a commitment to involvement in literacy, or to any funding for it. Even businesses that support other kinds of training see literacy as somehow different. It is obvious that common economic arguments about the importance of literacy do not coincide with the perceptions or the actions of many employers. Most programs are set up at the initiative of school boards, colleges — or unions.

These patterns — perhaps accounted for on the understanding that many firms currently either impose low skill requirements or can draw from large pools of relatively skilled workers — perhaps account for the chiding tone sometimes adopted by advocates of workplace literacy. For example,

An exclusive focus on current relative costs and benefits of investing in improved functional literacy carries with it a danger of ignoring future labour requirements. If the level of literacy required to function effectively in the job market continues to rise, the projected shortage of most types of skills will become a severe constraint on virtually all industries' capacity to maintain and improve their competitiveness.¹⁸¹