Basic Skills Deficiencies in the Workplace: Differences Between Large and Small Businesses‪.‬

INTRODUCTION Numerous "eye-opening" publications have focused attention on the basic skills, or lack thereof, of the American workforce. Jonathan Kozol's Illiterate America (1985), the Hudson Institute's Workforce 2000 (1987), and the United States Department of Labor's and the American Society for Training and Development's Workplace Basics: Skills Employers Want (Carnevale, Gainer, & Meltzer, 1989) are just a few notable publications. But why the concern with basic skills in the workplace?