The labour market is in a flux, affected by the deep and rapid digital transformation, as well as globalisation and demographic changes. Employers are demanding new skills and qualified workers, while many people are looking for a job. Promoting a good match between the rapidly changing demand for skills with workers’ competences is crucial to harness the potential of these changes and ensure that no one is left behind. Governments need a clearer picture, not only of how labour markets are changing, but of how well-equipped their citizens are to participate in, and benefit from, increasingly knowledge-based economies. The Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), provides that picture. It captures information about adults’ proficiency in literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills, and how much those skills are used on the job and throughout life.

Detailed data tables corresponding to the figures presented in the main body of the report can be found in . These figures and tables are numbered according to the corresponding chapters. Tables include an abbreviation in brackets to denote one of the three direct measures of skills for which there are data in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) – literacy (L), numeracy (N) and problem solving in technology-rich environments (P). As an example, Table A3.1 (L) denotes the first data table based on the literacy scale in corresponding to figures in or cited in the main body of the chapter. Unless otherwise stated, the population underlying each of the figures and tables covers adults aged 16-65.

Technological change, particularly the increasing presence of information and communications technology (ICT) in all areas of life, together with changes in the structure of employment has led to a growing demand for higher-level cognitive skills involving the understanding, interpretation, analysis and communication of complex information. Employment is shifting away from jobs involving routine cognitive and manual tasks and towards jobs involving expert thinking and complex communication. Governments need a clearer picture, not only of how labour markets are changing, but of how well-equipped their citizens are to participate in, and benefit from, increasingly knowledge-based economies. The Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), helps provide that picture. The survey was designed to provide insights into how well adult populations can perform the key skills society needs, and how they are using them at work and at home. It assesses the proficiency among adults (16-65 year-olds) in three key information-processing skills: literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments.

A note regarding Israel

This chapter describes the level and distribution of proficiency in the three information-processing skills assessed – literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments – among adults in the countries and economies participating in the Survey of Adult Skills. To help readers interpret the findings, it describes what the different levels of proficiency mean in concrete terms for each of these three domains. The chapter looks at the distribution in scores across countries and economies, and within participating countries, with particular focus on the six countries that participated in the third and final round of this cycle of data collection – Ecuador, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Peru and the United States.

This chapter examines differences in skills proficiency between different groups of individuals, defined by age, gender, socio-economic status, and educational attainment. The chapter considers literacy and numeracy proficiency as well as problem solving in technology-rich environments. It outlines the overall picture for all countries and economies participating in the Survey of Adult Skills, with a particular focus on the differences found among the countries that have participated in this latest round of data gathering.

This chapter examines the use of numeracy skills at work and in everyday life, and the relationship between the intensity of individuals skills use and their employment status, wages, job satisfaction and economy-wide productivity. It also explores the factors associated with greater or lesser use of these skills in the workplace, including proficiency, the characteristics of workers – such as gender, age and educational attainment – and features of their jobs. It ends by considering how the sorts of tasks used at work, including social interactions, might affect which jobs are at risk of automation.

This chapter looks at how proficiency in literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments makes a difference to the outcomes experienced by individuals – and how these differ among the six countries that participated in the third round of the Survey of Adult Skills. It finds that proficiency is positively linked to a number of important economic and social outcomes – not just employment and wages, but also aspects of well-being such as health, volunteering and political efficacy. It also considers the impact of wages on mismatches between workers’ qualifications and skills and those needed for their jobs.

The following tables are available in electronic form only.