Canadian Parents for French, PEI

Bilingual Jobs

Bilingualism and the job market

1. 'British graduates are missing out on some of the best jobs at home and abroad because they are on the whole monolingual,' said Orban, a Romanian who speaks English, French and Italian. 'An English mother-tongue candidate with additional languages has an even more competitive edge, but let's not forget that only about 25 per cent of the world's population speaks English. If you know the local language and culture, you are more likely to clinch that lucrative business deal, so it is an economic problem for Britain as well,' he said. From Learn languages or lose out on a job EU chief warns that British students are missing out as firms increasingly opt for bilingual graduates/Liz Lightfoot /The Observer/Sunday September 21 2008

2. Researchers have been studying the benefits of bilingualism in the labor force over the last few decades. According to an article by Dr. Harold Chorney, “the knowledge of both of the official languages of the country, with the accompanying cognitive changes, is a clear asset with employers” (Chorney, 1998). Chorney concludes there is concrete evidence that shows bilingualism has a significant impact upon access to employment. According to the 1991 census, unemployment rates were lower for bilingual groups versus groups who spoke only English or French.

According to an article entitled “Fluency in a foreign language can translate into a world of professional possibilities”, the ability to speak and write a second language, such as French, in some US careers is considered a specialized skill and employers are willing to pay for this talent. Donna Sabitino, operations manager at Career Blazers employment agency in New York City says that French and Spanish are the dominant languages in the social services and medical fields in the United States (Stokely, 2000). Taken from Research on the benefits of bilingualism in the labor market, The Benefits of Bilingualism in the Labor Force In Canada

3. Almost three million people work in the public sector in Canada and the federal government currently employs over 366,000 of these people. The federal government is committed to promoting bilingualism in the workplace in order to provide public service in both official languages. As part of this initiative, the government has made hiring more bilingual employees one of their official goals, thus encouraging young Canadians seeking employment with the government to learn French. Article for Employment Journey/Submitted by Gail Lecky, Executive Director, Canadian Parents for French – PEI/June 2006