Skills Matter
Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills
In the wake of the technological revolution that began in the last decades of the
20th century, labour market demand for information-processing and other high-level
cognitive and interpersonal skills is growing substantially. The Survey of Adult Skills,
a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies
(PIAAC), was designed to provide insights into the availability of some of these key
skills in society and how they are used at work and at home. The first survey of its
kind, it directly measures proficiency in several information-processing skills –
namely literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments.
This volume reports results from the 24 countries and regions that participated in
the first round of the survey in 2011-12 (first published in OECD Skills Outlook 2013:
First Results from the Survey of Adult Skills) and from the nine additional countries
that participated in the second round in 2014-15 (Chile, Greece, Indonesia [Jakarta],
Israel, Lithuania, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovenia and Turkey). It describes adults’
proficiency in the three information-processing skills assessed, and examines how
skills proficiency is related to labour market and social outcomes. Another related
report, The Survey of Adult Skills: Reader’s Companion, Second Edition, describes
the design and methodology of the survey and its relationship to other international
assessments of young students and adults.
Published on June 28, 2016Also available in: French
In series:OECD Skills Studiesview more titles