Yes, you read that correctly,
it does pay off to learn a new language. Why is this? In a recent article by Investopedia, they included that one can expect a salary wage increase of around 1.7%, all for possessing the skill of speaking a foreign language such as Spanish. There are a number of factors that contribute to this, one being the exponentially increasing amount of immigrating individuals from foreign nations, particularly from South America in which Spanish is the dominant language. These individuals are immediately seeking work in America, and oftentimes, they have some sort of fluency in the English language. Another reason being that many universities implement a diversity core requirement in their curriculum, meaning that students must take courses that are foreign language based, whether that is French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic or Chinese.
A British Chambers of Commerce study conducted in 2013 discovered that in the field of foreign trade, over 60% of companies are limited by language barriers. As this makes sense, let’s look at an example of oil commodities. Let’s say a French gasoline company is looking for a new supplier in the Middle East, he gets on the phone with the oil company and the receptionist speaks very fluently in Arabic, but does not have any knowledge of the French language. Both individuals are stuck at a standstill, unable to communicate with each other and unfortunately, a deal is never proposed or finalized.
Because of scenarios like this, employers are avidly searching for balanced individuals who are well informed on the career they are pursuing, as well as an individual who can translate this knowledge in a foreign language.
Another fun fact is that military personnel on average receive an extra $1000 per month for having the ability to speak a foreign language, further proving that these opportunities are not just limited to the corporate field.
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