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CONFINTEA V, the Fifth International Conference on Adult Education (report indexed at TD/INT 59.65) was held in Hamburg in 1997. The aim of the conference was to emphasise the importance of adult learning and to encourage international commitment to adult and continuing education in the perspective of lifelong learning. The broad and complex issue of adult learning was considered under 10 themes. In 2003, the CONFINTEA Mid-term Review Conference (synthesis report indexed at TD/TNC 78.108) was convened to review developments in adult learning and the commitments that had been made at CONFINTEA V. A workshop was held at the conference to examine theme five, 'Adult learning and the changing world of work'. This document is one of the papers presented at the workshop. It highlights the key priorities of past and present adult education programs and shows their progressions in terms of approach and focus. It says that adult education today has a far more integrative perspective in empowerment. However, major deficits and challenges still exist such as in areas of: quality assurance, certification, modularisation and accreditation; self organised and informal learning; new learning cultures and innovative learning arrangements; information, transparency and counselling; and demand oriented curricula, methods and learning time for specific target groups. The paper concludes by stating that more information is needed about learners and their motivation, interests and barriers, the learning processes, and the learning results in order to provide efficient and productive adult education for all.