This report is designed to be read after "Rethinking skills gaps and solutions, Working Paper 4 of The Skills Imperative 2035: Essential skills for tomorrow's workforce." Its purpose is to give further depth and weight to the key findings and recommendations reported in Working Paper 4 by describing the analyses that were conducted using data from the NFER Essential Employment Skills Survey and the results that were obtained. The results are proceeded by a brief summary of the background context to the research and the research design and methodology. They are followed by a summary of the key findings.