Firms lose business due to lack of language skills
14 February 2008
One quarter of UK companies (26%) have lost out on business because their staff cannot speak a foreign language, according to a new report released by publishing firm Hodder Education last week.
The independent research conducted by Gfk NOP reveals that insufficient language skills in the workplace has meant that 17% of companies have not been able to pitch for business globally. The survey of over 500 UK companies also found that 10% of companies incurred costs having documents translated.
Sarah Carroll, author of Hodder Education’s Teach Yourself Business Languages Series, said: ‘As companies begin to operate more within the international community, they must ensure they hire staff with good language skills. It’s encouraging that some companies are beginning to recognise this demand and that they are prepared to offer foreign language speakers a premium salary.’
One in four medium sized businesses felt that their company would benefit from more foreign language speakers and 25% would actively hire a candidate who could speak a second language over one that couldn’t. Medium sized companies are also willing to offer bilingual employees extra incentives; 28% say they would consider paying staff with good language skills a higher salary.
By business sector companies in the Manufacturing (16%) and Catering and Leisure sectors (16%) are most in need of workers with foreign language skills. Nearly a quarter of Manufacturing sector employers would actively hire a candidate who could speak a second language over one who couldn’t and 21% would offer staff extra incentives if they had foreign language skills.
This report supports information found in the Europe-wide ELAN report, which showed that 11% of European SMEs had lost a contract as a result of poor languages skills.
Download the ELAN report from the CILT, the National Centre for Languages website.
For more information visit www.hoddereduation.co.uk
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