Is learning a second language the way to get ahead in business?

Data suggests employer appetites for multilingual employees are high and getting higher.

When Anthony Bourdain put together a list of 14 rules for the aspiring chef, knowing the language of your fellow chefs took the number two spot.

“If you can’t communicate, develop relationships, understand instructions, and pass them along, then you are at a tremendous disadvantage,” wrote Mr Bourdain in Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.

“Show them some respect by bothering to know them. Learn their language. Eat their food. It will be personally rewarding and professionally invaluable.”

We’re not all chefs, and we don’t all live in New York – but the lesson is universal.

Today, we’re asking whether multilingualism is still a career advantage and whether employers should indeed care.

Do employers care?

More than a third of UK universities stopped offering specialist modern European language degrees in the 15 years leading to 2013.

Similarly, Australia has “significantly fallen behind” other countries in language education as monolingualism is on the rise.

These and similar trends have led some to wonder whether language technologies like Google Translate and ChatGPT are behind the decline.

Despite these fears, research suggests that employers continue to value multilingualism in job candidates and employees pushing for promotions and better compensation.

For example, 35 per cent of employers and managers who use Rosetta Stone, a language learning tool, said they had done one of the following because of a candidate or employee’s proficiency in another language:

1. Extended a job offer
2. Granted a job interview
3. Recommended a promotion
4. Recommended a pay raise

Similarly, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Making Languages Our Business report found that, at the time of writing in 2019, employer demand for foreign language-speaking employees was on the rise.

Moreover, most employers expected their demand for foreign-language-speaking employees to increase over the five years from 2019.

Perhaps most tellingly, multilingual employees appear to earn more. Research cited by Money Magazine from Wharton and LECG Europe found a 2 per cent increase in annual income. As noted by Money, though this sounds slight, it could mean a “$70,000 increase in retirement savings”.

That said, the precise amount is disputed. In research cited by the Financial Post, employees who speak more than one language can earn between 5 and 20 per cent more than those who speak only one.

Employees appear to understand the demand, as 35 per cent of surveyed users of Rosetta Stone said they were learning a language to boost future job prospects.

The business benefits of multilingualism

The cognitive benefits of speaking multiple languages are many and well understood. Less well known are the positive effects of multilingualism in a business context, including the following:

1. More international business opportunities
2. Enhanced client trust and satisfaction
3. Stronger relationships among employees
4. Higher employee satisfaction
5. Personal confidence
6. Better communication skills

As stated in an article for Preply Business, “multilingualism in the workplace helps companies develop a vibrant and thriving culture full of different perspectives and innovative ideas”.

What does it say to an employer?

Knowing another language matters more to the employer than whatever direct benefits might come from knowing that specific language. Multilingualism can imply certain things about an employee or job candidate.

“Learning a second language proves you understand the importance of a second language as a skill, you had the willingness to apply your time and resources to learning the skill, and you had the work ethic to see it through to the end with proficiency,” said the Washington Technical Institute.

It can suggest that an employee has a greater understanding of distinct cultures and better social manoeuvrability.

According to the British Council, knowing a foreign language is one of the strongest indicators of intercultural skills – a group of skills that employers see as beneficial to organisational earnings.

“Those who are multilingual have a cultural agility that is practised every day, which is critical for any employer that is concerned with the sustainability of their business,” said Mariana Fagnilli, vice president of Liberty Mutual Insurance.

For more, read a recent HR Leader on the topic here.