Multilingual Employees Are in High Demand
Although demand for U.S. workers fluent in foreign languages is expected to increase over the next 10 years, few workers intend to study them, according to a University of Phoenix Research Institute survey of 511 employees and 419 employers. Forty-two percent of employers anticipate a moderate or high demand for business proficiency in Chinese in a decade, while almost 70 percent expect Spanish business proficiency to be in demand. More than 80 percent of employees said it was somewhat or highly unlikely that they would become competent at conducting business in Chinese in the next 10 years, while nearly 60 percent said they would probably not become fluent in Spanish. University of Phoenix Research Institute Executive Director Leslie Miller finds these trends troubling and notes that "current proficiencies in these languages is already low." Meanwhile, the Modern Language Association found that college enrollment in Chinese increased by more than 18 percent between fall 2006 and fall 2009 to approximately 61,000 students, while enrollment in Spanish classes rose 5 percent to roughly 865,000. According to Beth Ross, an executive coach, reports that bilingual job candidates are already valued highly by employers, particularly those proficient in non-Romance languages such as Chinese and Russian. "It's easier to find them jobs and they often get paid more," she notes.
From "Languages Needed, but No Plans to Learn"
Wall Street Journal (NY) (01/18/11) Light, Joe
Source: ATA Newsbriefs - January 2011
