Peter Robieson set up Edvance, a workplace training company, after realising from his experience as an engineer that many people entering the workforce lacked the basic skills to cope with everyday business tasks.
Since 2007, Edvance has worked primarily with Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) funding to provide courses on a range of basic literacy and numeracy skills to make workplaces more efficient.
Starting in Tauranga, Edvance now provides services on a national basis, said Edvance general manager Lynda Rewita.
"We look at all the things that are reducing workers' ability to have better production," she said.
Ms Rewita cited the results of the last Adult Literacy and Life Skills survey in 2006, which found that up to 40 per cent of the New Zealand workforce faced basic literacy and numeracy skills. The survey measured the prose and document literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills of a sample of respondents from participating countries. Although the survey had not been updated, Ms Rewita said Edvance's experience suggested there was still a strong need for workplace training.