Organisations that are more likely to encourage language use, are often:

• foreign-owned
• multinational or internationally networked 
• serving local communities
• exporting /importing services or products 
• web-based

Languages are used in departments and functional areas such as: 

• sales
• customer support/helpdesk 
• secretarial/PA 
• human resources 
• research
• information technology 
• marketing/PR

Source: Languages Work website 2004

3.2% of all jobs (circa 6,000) required explicit knowledge of a foreign language (see Reed's website 2004 for more information).

As there are a wide variety of industries and companies that offer opportunities for speakers of other languages, it is not possible to give out general statistics on employment as such. For the two sectors e-skills, and science and engineering, however, information is available:

e-skills sector companies (IT, Telecoms and contact centres)

• 39.5% regularly use at least one foreign language
• 72% have employees with language skills
• 40% have experienced language barriers
• 24% have experienced cultural barriers
• 14% have lost business as a result of communication barriers
• 10% had a formal language strategy for dealing with overseas customers
• 17% have invested in language training in the past three years (mainly French, Spanish, German, but also Japanese and Russian)

Source: CILT report for e-skills 2003

SEMTA sector companies (Science, Engineering and manufacturing technologies)

• 57% regularly use at least one foreign language
• 65% have employees with language skills, yet only 57% claim to use languages on a regular basis
• 47% have experienced language barriers
• 21% have experienced cultural barriers
• 19% have lost business as a result of communication barriers

Source: CILT report for SEMTA 2003

Various employers have actually come to the UK because recruit people with language skills (such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Air France and Delta Airlines). 20% of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) recruited individuals with the necessary language skills. 45% of SMEs used translation agencies.

Source: Regional Language Skills Capacity Audits (2001-2003)

It is difficult to quote significant statistics about the first destinations of modern languages graduates because of the wide range of combinations and different emphasis in terms of course content. However, degrees combining languages with non-language subjects are the most popular and these graduates seem to do best in the employment stakes. In 2002, around 50% of language graduates went straight into full-time employment in the UK, and a further 10% found work abroad. The Prospects website states that only a small proportion of graduates went into interpreting and translating roles, most went into a broad range of commercial and public sector roles. Also, the unemployment rates among new graduates in the UK are lower compared to the average unemployment rate.

For further detailed information see Data and charts

Source: Prospects website 2004 and Marshall 2001

Why do language graduates do so well?

• 35-40% of graduate job adverts ask for 'any discipline' (ie open to all graduates)
• vocational training can be added to expert language skills more easily than the reverse
• language degrees develop the skills demanded by employers: communication skills, independence
• most language graduates enter jobs not specifically related to languages

Source: Marshall 2003

For more information on the employment of language graduates see:

There is a mismatch between business demand and education supply. The UK workforce suffers from a chronic shortage of people at all levels with usable language skills, but this is especially problematic in frontline roles. Companies need personnel with technical or professional knowledge plus another language. There is strong evidence that commercial employers are recruiting abroad. Employees from the UK are therefore increasingly disadvantaged in a recruitment market increasingly accessible to multilingual continental Europeans.

Over recent years a vicious circle of inadequate supply has been generated by a shortage of language teachers. Also, many university departments that train language teachers are threatened with closure, as have those specialising in Languages. The mismatch between demand and education supply is extremely wide in the tourism and hospitality sectors as languages are largely absent from tourism and hospitality education and training courses.

The Nuffield Languages Inquiry (2000) expects that the need for properly qualified public service interpreters is likely to grow in the foreseeable future.

Source: Connell 2002, Reed Multilingual Solutions 2001 and Nuffield Languages Inquiry 2000

The five business languages most in demand in the UK are French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch.

There is increasing demand for Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin/Cantonese, Portuguese and Russian.

Within the public service sector in the UK a different range of languages is needed to offer a better services to the local communities such as the British sign language, Gujarati, Hindi, Panjabi, Swahili, Urdu and Welsh.

Source: Languages Work website 2004 and Regional Language Skills Capacity Audits (2001-2003)

Languages are used in a range of occupations across the UK. It is assumed that the trend towards the need of languages is likely to continue, or even expand, due to increased foreign trade, closer European links, the expansion of the EU, the effects of globalisation and the war on terrorism.

In the public sector there is also an increasing recognition of languages as an equal opportunities issue. Also, the growth of jobs requiring multi-lingual staff such as regional airports and the rise of new employment areas calling upon a whole variety of languages at different levels of skills – ranging from international call centres to the localisation of software.

Source: Connell 2002