Literate Work Force Is Everyone’s Business : Public-Private Program Teaching Employees to Read Well Will Pay Off in Many Ways

American businesses say international competition means they must come up with new ways of doing the job, more efficient methods and workers who can do several tasks rather than just one. That’s bad news for workers who cannot read, or cannot read well.

For the past two months, three Orange County community colleges and nine companies have combined forces in a workplace literacy program. The companies pay employees to take literacy classes on company time and the federal government kicks in money. It’s a worthwhile partnership between the public and private sectors.

The literacy program grew out of a training center called JobLink, in which the businesses and Irvine Valley, Rancho Santiago and Coast Community colleges teamed up to offer employees math, English and other classes. The federal government provided $3.4 million for the workplace literacy program. The grant, one of 46 given nationwide, was the only one awarded in California.

The need is clear to many companies. JobLink’s literacy adviser, La Vergne Rosow, said one worker would not report problems with machinery because he could not write a report and was embarrassed to admit it. That jeopardizes safety for everyone, as well as closing down the illiterate person’s job future and decreasing his efficiency for his company.

An official at one of the participating firms, Irvine-based Rosemount Analytical, said about one-third of the company’s 250 workers have signed up for voluntary classes held at the plant. He said that while some workers were reluctant to take a literacy class at a local library with strangers, they were comfortable sitting in a class with their friends and co-workers.

For those who feel differently, Orange County’s public libraries have offered reading classes, a valuable service available to a wider community than just workers for companies taking part in JobLink. The ability to read well is fundamental for individuals and for a society committed to democracy. Schools are trying to learn how to improve their students’ performance. For those whose school days are far in the past, the colleges and businesses are providing a valuable service that is in everyone’s best interest.