The latter anecdotal data are frequently not verifiable by other means such as direct study of the literacy tasks people have to perform on their jobs. But as of now, our nation s low unemployment with very high productivity and high global competitiveness suggest that the workforce is very able considered as a whole. I bet they do. As noted, there are a variety of studies with a variety of data bases ranging from the IALS and NALS to the DOL s occupational data bases. Presumably the latter represent small as well as large businesses since most adults work in small businesses and the NALS was supposed to be a nationally representative sample of adults.
People can only do what they can do.
A business that sets itself up to do what no one can do will not get it done. In another sense, a business that can structure its work such that it can draw upon a greater share of the available workforce is likely to be more competitive. If it can limit the skills demands of its work, for instance by developing good job aids rather than by relying upon training, it may reduce its costs of doing business and draw upon a larger pool of the available workforce. As I said before, this in no way reduces the findings of positive correlations between amount of education or amount of skills and getting good jobs with better pay. But as Alec notes, these correlations are far from perfect, frequently accounting for less than 10 to 20 percent of the variance in such studies.