Russian and Portuguese, the two most marketable languages ​​in business

Do you speak English fluently? It’s good, but it’s not enough… Fluency in English isn’t really a highlight on a CV anymore! Today, recruits have additional requirements than speaking Shakespeare’s language (which is still the most spoken language in the professional world, ahead of Spanish and German for third place). This was revealed by a study of French and foreign language business executives, published by Babbel and OpinionWay on September 17. 501 private sector executives were interviewed last August.

This study confirms that proficiency at the second level is an asset. A big surprise this year, Italian, Portuguese and above all … Russian is making the difference with recruitment companies.

According to the study, 89% of Russian-speaking executives declare that they got a job thanks to the proficiency in this language, 74% for Portuguese, 70% for Italian and… 41% for English.

I come to negotiate a salary

Same story for those who are already in the office. 82% of respondents who speak Russian believe that they have more responsibilities thanks to this skill, 70% for Portuguese, 60% for Italian and 37% for English speakers.

But why so much enthusiasm for languages ​​that very few people speak in France? “These profiles are so few, this rare skill becomes an asset that enhances the employability of candidates,” explains Kathleen Desi, director of partners at Babbel. And adding: “Less than 8% of the French speak Italian, but Italy is it Third business partner France (after Germany and Belgium). There are more than 1,000 Italian subsidiaries established in France, so opportunities must be seized.”

This mastery of foreign languages ​​is an asset to defend during salary negotiations: 33% of respondents say they have received a raise by evaluating this skill. But it was Russian speakers who managed to earn the most (73%), followed by Portuguese speakers (71%) and Italian speakers (48%). Only English was assessed in 24% of cases.