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This article sets out to provide an understanding of policy approaches in dealing with the barriers to, and improving the rates of return associated with, lifelong learning trends in workforce development in Wales. The focus is on the policy initiative known as the Learning Workers Pilot (LWP) program which seeks to overcome some of the earlier training market failures by removing the direct costs of training for both employers and employees. Data collected from both learners and employers are analysed to find out the degree to which this initiative reached its initial aims and objectives. Findings indicate that removing training cost barriers encourages those individuals previously excluded from training to participate in lifelong learning. It also increases employers' capacity to offer training to staff. Apart from cost, the main barrier to training is the cost of releasing staff from the firms' operations. Evidence suggests that one of the real barriers to training is the relatively low value employers place on qualifications, and until this value increases, it may be difficult to sustain heightened demand for learning beyond cost free incentives. In an increasingly knowledge-based environment, increasing productivity and profit will depend on the creation of, and participation in, an integrated skills economy The sustainability of future policy initiatives will depend, to a large extent, on changing cultural and perceptual attitudes about the value of training.