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Earlier this year, we released findings from our 2026 Room for Growth survey, which focused on the upskilling approaches that employers use in their organizations, and the metrics leaders use to gauge the success of those programs. In the summer of 2026, we surveyed more than 600 employers across the nation representing all major industries and 42 states. We were specifically interested in how foundational skills show up in employers’ programs and priorities.

Foundational skills (literacy, numeracy, English and language learning, digital literacy, and critical thinking) are the literal foundations of future learning, but they often don’t fit neatly into any single program category. Foundational skills appear in the survey findings as a component of tuition assistance offerings, as a differentiating factor in successful apprenticeship programs, and as a common thread in internal training and development curricula. This paper looks specifically at what we know about how employers consider foundational skills training: who offers it, what it covers, how it’s delivered, and what separates the most successful programs from the rest.