Financial literacy is very important to us. In fact, it's part of our mission, which is twofold. We invest in businesses and we educate Quebeckers on the importance of having adequate savings.
Unfortunately, Canadians and Quebecers are among the worst savers in the world, so we focus a lot on young people. You haven't had a chance to see them, but many of our ads, for example, target young people, to get them thinking about opening up an RRSP by the age of 30 or 35.
Beyond financial literacy, training is a major consideration. Every time we invest in a company, we provide what we call economic training. A Fonds de solidarité FTQ employee with teaching experience meets with employees of the companies we invest in to demystify certain concepts, such as profit. Showing a business the importance of making a profit is key, because that is what enables the business to reinvest and ensure its longevity.
At the end of the two-day training course, employees realize how important profit is, and that triggers another movement. With this newfound awareness, they then suggest ideas to the company president or entrepreneur with a view to improving gross margins or profitability.
We close the loop, so to speak, by making sure employees also understand the importance of saving. It extends well beyond the idea of profitability. We teach the employees of our partner companies about the economic environment, export challenges, and the changing economy. It's really about educating the employees.
In the past 25 to 30 years, the number of strike days in Quebec has dropped significantly. I'm not saying all the credit goes to the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, but initiatives such as ours help make workers aware of the importance of saving.