View Content #27356

From https://www.leadwithlanguages.org/language-advocacy/publications/

 

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and its Lead with Languages campaign, with the support of Pearson LLC and Language Testing International, commissioned Ipsos Public Affairs to conduct a survey of 1,200 U.S. employers, and the resulting 2019 report, Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers, indicates an urgent and growing demand for language skills in the workplace.

 

The report also suggests seven actionable recommendations that U.S. businesses may employ to fully leverage their employees’ language assets and to contribute to fostering a robust future multilingual workforce to better thrive in our global economy.

 

Key Findings Include:

• 9 out of 10 U.S. employers rely on employees with language skills other than English.

• 56% say their foreign language demand will increase in the next 5 years.

• 47% state a need for language skills exclusively for the domestic market.

• 1 in 3 language-dependent U.S. employers report a language skills gap.

• 1 in 4 U.S. employers lost business due to a lack of language skills. 

 

Students, parents, teachers and administrators, community members, and business leaders will find this data helpful when advocating to sustain and grow language programs at the local, state, and national level—beginning with the establishment of early language programs and continuing up through university partnerships.

 

Access this report at https://www.leadwithlanguages.org/language-advocacy/publications/making-languages-business-media-kit/