Employers demand languages staff don’t use

More than 63 per cent of workers say they do not use the languages which were demanded of them when they were hired.

According to a survey by Adecco Professional amongst almost 2,000 working Spaniards between 18 and 65, more than 53 per cent were told at their job interview that they must speak a foreign language.

Of the 63 per cent who say they don’t use the language or languages, almost 25 per cent say that they have only had to use them on a few occasions. However, 36.7 per cent of workers say they do use other languages, although 13.7 per cent say it is not on a regular basis.

More than 47 per cent were told they had to speak one more language, almost 25 per cent needed two more languages, and 3.8 per cent were asked to have three more. In the remaining cases, they were asked to know more than three foreign languages.

More than 61 per cent of companies asked for English speakers, 11.3 per cent French, 10.7 per cent German, and 1.7 per cent Portuguese.

In 14 per cent of cases, they wanted languages such as Chinese, Arabic or Eastern European languages.

In 20 per cent of cases, they were asked to speak a regional language as well as Spanish and a foreign language. The most demanded was Catalan, in 8.7 per cent of cases, followed by Euskera (Basque language) in 2.4 per cent, Valenciano (2.1 per cent) and Gallego (in Galicia) 1.8 per cent.