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Sprechen Sie Deutsch? The languages to learn to boost your salary
Spoken by almost one fifth of the world’s population, Mandarin has historically been promoted as one of the most important languages British employees should learn to increase their employability, while Arabic can also open doors given the growing importance of the Middle East in international affairs.
British businesses are increasingly looking for employees who are able to communicate with at least basic proficiency in the language of clients, customers and suppliers, and a 2017 report by education giant Pearson and the CBI found that Mandarin and Arabic were the fourth and fifth most in-demand languages, respectively, among UK employers, behind French, German and Spanish.
The major European economies are the largest export markets for British goods and services, and are likely to remain so after Brexit, meaning that French and German are deemed the most useful languages for British employees to know. Spanish is also considered important for its use both in Europe and in Spanish-speaking Latin America.
This sentiment is reflected in research by jobs site Indeed, which found that German and French were the two languages most sought after by UK employers, with 1,221 per million job vacancies specifying German language skills as a requirement, and 1,152 postings seeking Francophones.
There has been a 35pc jump in listings for Chinese speakers over the last three years, to 643 per million postings, making it the third most sought-after language, while listings for Spanish speakers fell 9.5pc to 567 posts, placing it fourth on the list.
Despite the demand for fluent Spanish, German, French and Mandarin speakers, employees who speak Swedish are the most likely to command a bigger paycheck, claims a separate study by jobs site Adzuna.
It found that UK roles that require Swedish language skills pay more than those seeking any other second language, with an average annual salary of £54,890, well ahead of the national average advertised salary of £33,993.
Following Swedish, Arabic comes second, offering an average salary of £41,100, while rounding off the top 10 best-paid language skills is Dutch (£38,206), Mandarin (£37,072), German (£36,717), Spanish (£35,661), Polish (£33,257), Russian (£33,023), French (£32,247) and Portuguese (£31,835).
Adzuna says the demand for Swedish speakers is being driven by global companies looking to expand into the Nordic regions, with firms such as American Express and Oracle among those looking to hire bi-lingual Swedes.
David Morel, chief executive at Tiger Recruitment, says job candidates with a second language can earn around 20pc more than one without, but the preferred language depends on the sector.
“Tech firms at the moment are thinking about growth in China and the Middle East, so that means a lot of demand for candidates with Mandarin or Arabic. Whereas finance companies, like investment firms and private equity, are more keen on European languages, as this tends to be more where their focus lies,” he explains.
Morel says there has been an increase in demand for languages among employers for two reasons: firstly, technology has made it easier for companies to expand abroad without having a base in other countries, so having an employee located in the UK who speaks other languages is a big advantage.
“Secondly, Brexit has had an impact because more companies, particularly in the finance space, are looking to open a base in other European countries, so this is both opening up roles abroad, as well as for individuals to liaise with those countries from the UK.”
Despite research suggesting the value of a second language, Phil Ingle, a management consultant, takes a contrary view. He has delivered training in 24 countries across Europe, as well as in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Panama and Russia, and has only occasionally come across someone who did not speak English.
“It is embarrassingly easy to get by in business when you know English, and it just isn’t necessary for Britons to learn French or German in order to achieve career progression. That’s not to say someone shouldn’t learn another language, it just isn’t the case that English people need to learn another language to increase their employment prospects.”
Ingle says that individuals outside the UK, on the other hand, do need to learn English in order to increase their earnings potential, because “there is far greater demand for English speakers than those of other nationalities”.
Anthony Burr, who runs public relations firm Burr Media, speaks English and Swedish fluently, and says knowing a second language has neither “helped nor hindered” him professionally.
“I always felt [Swedish] was a useless second language as with a population of under 10 million, not many people speak it and most Swedes pride themselves on knowing perfect English as they begin learning it in school at a very early age.”
Despite not finding Swedish particularly useful during his journalism career, as head of a PR agency it has been more advantageous. “Swedes can understand Danes and Norwegians, so knowing one of those opens up opportunities in three different countries. We also have some Russian clients and so it’s very valuable to have a couple of Russian speakers at the agency.
“In fact, we would probably have to turn down some overseas clients if we didn’t have someone in the company who spoke their language. There would no doubt be bad consequences if we couldn’t understand each other.”
Which second language has helped you most in your career? What are your language learning tips? We want to hear from you in the comments section below.