Emails, computers making Aussie workers dumb

Emails, computers making Aussie workers dumb | News.com.au

THE use of email and computers in workplaces has created a new literacy problem in Australia's workforce, affecting otherwise skilled and educated workers, according to a report by the Australian Industry Group.

The survey - to be released today - measures the state of literacy and numeracy skills in 338 businesses employing about 56,000 workers.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the issue was an emerging problem.

"It's something we wouldn't have seen reported by business before," she said. "There would be many older professionals that do need assistance to deal with things like email addresses."

The report found that the use of email or web-based communication had uncovered another layer of illiteracy: "employees who have a reasonable level of literacy skill but are unable to complete some workplace tasks to the standard required".

"This included tasks like using appropriate email language in communications between employees and external customers.

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"Some employers reported that employees with high-level technical skills, such as engineers, were poor communicators within workplace settings."

One-in-four businesses indicated they had concerns about the literacy and numeracy of apprentices and technicians that they were employing.

AIG chief executive Heather Ridout said the issue had become a big problem. "The skill intensity of jobs is rising all the time," she said.

The report found the services industry was most affected, with 16 per cent of service companies saying they were highly affected by poor literacy and numeracy, compared with 7 per cent of manufacturing companies and 3 per cent of construction firms.

Problem areas: Literacy/numeracy issues in the workplace:

Too much reliance on calculators for simple maths tasks

Employees' fear of giving presentations due to lack of communication skills

Employees unable to complete necessary training due to literacy issues

Inappropriate language used in emails