Also I neglected to mention regarding skills..
To gain a skill you first research it in the character upgrades (which it sounds like you did) then click the worker and view stats, from here you select change skills and then drag and drop the skills into the slots you want (each guy gets 2 @ lvl 10). Once equipped it will be available for you when you click on the worker with the skill based on what your guy is doing and when the skill can be used. For crunch that is available for use during stage 1 / 2 / 3 and game delays you wont see it any other time but when used you will definitely feel the difference 100% bubble chance makes.
I really need to do a proper tutorial in game but its difficult when a lot of the HUD is still work in progress but I will have a very detailed in game guide at some point before steam early access.