According to the most recent National Adult Literacy Survey, nearly half of Illinois adults lack sufficient reading proficiency to ensure job success and advancement in 21st century workplaces. The Test of Adult Basic Education is currently used as a pretest/posttest in Illinois' existing adult basic education, adult secondary education, and English-as-a-second-language programs. What is needed instead is an assessment articulating the job skills achieved by individual learners so that they can make better career choices and employers can select appropriate employees. Existing adult literacy programs and policies must increase their emphasis on workplace literacy. By formally linking adult literacy education with job skills needed in the workplace, the Workforce Investment Act marks a step forward in designing a work force development system. In addition to reading skills, the following complex skills are also needed in the workplace: knowing how to learn, listening and communicating orally, creative thinking and problem solving, self-esteem, interpersonal skills, and organizational effectiveness. Other strategies for meeting workplace literacy needs include the following: define reading competence in terms of a person's ability to apply specific reading skills; provide programs for those who have not met traditional definitions of literacy; and assess individuals' literacy together with other essential employment skills. (MN)