National Adult Literacy Database

This report concludes that both labour and management are waking up to the fact that they will face very real problems if they fail to start planning now to replace the loss of experience and skills from retiring workers. Forward planning by both unions and companies will have to address the skills needs of both companies and workers in terms not just of current needs but also of what skills portfolio would be appropriate in the future. It will be important for companies and unions to be forward looking and begin the process of developing strategies before the wave of retirees hits their particular workforce. The increasingly recognized importance of skills as a key inhibitor to a firm’s competitiveness will help these participants focus on this issue.