Because of the changing nature of work in society, higher levels of basic skills in reading, writing, and computation are needed in all occupational areas, whether or not they are related to high technology. Although research on the relationship between job performance and basic skills is not definitive, it is clear that it is more important for workers to be able to apply basic skills in a job performance situation than to demonstrate these skills on a standardized test. Examples of successful occupationally oriented basic skills programs include a public and private sector cooperation effort to prepare Comprehensive Employment and Training Act eligible workers as competitive word processing operators, an urban retraining program for wastewater treatment workers, and an occupational literacy training program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense (the FLIT Program). Research indicates that individuals who wish to develop job-oriented basic skills programs should strive to maintain an orientation to the mission of the agency for which the basic skills program is being developed, provide training in basic skills within a functional context, arrange program conditions to maximize learning time, and use competency-based mastery learning techniques. (MN)