In recent years, the geopolitical, technological, educational and social context throughout the world has led to different demands and needs in the labour market, moving from purely functional and operational positions decades ago to the search for more strategic and managerial profiles. that help drive the transition towards a digital, globalized and hyperconnected scenario.
Precisely these last concepts (globalization and connection) have opened the way to the fact that it is not enough to read and write only in the native language, but rather to resort to polyglot professionals or those who at least master a second language, preferably English, making this a differentiating point in the market.
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Although in the case of Colombia until a few years ago this was not a relevant issue, Phenomena such as teleworking, the arrival of call centers and the country’s efforts to become a benchmark for qualified labor in the technological world have led to the need to speak this language becoming increasingly more necessary.
Growing needs
This week, the Center for Economic Studies Anif presented an analysis that warns that the mastery of a second language has gained relevance in the Colombian labor market, in a context with all the characteristics already mentioned and that, although it is not as high as expected, it is gaining strength as the years go by.
Speak English
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“The job search process is framed within a labor intermediation model with imperfect information. This means that employers and workers looking for a job do not always have the same amount of information, which can lead to significant challenges when hiring people, or accepting jobs that do not meet expectations,” they began by saying.
While this is not bad at first glance, for Anif it poses certain challenges, as these situations lead to a mismatch between supply and demand for work, because employers may not be fully informed about the availability of candidates with the necessary skills, and workers may not be aware of all the job opportunities that fit their competencies.
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“The English requirement could respond to the increasing availability of information on the web in languages other than Spanish, and the need for companies to interact in a global environment. Having skills in this language can be an indicator of the quality of the worker, reflecting their ability to access information in another language, manage technologies and tools that are predominantly in that language,” they explained.
How much is being asked?
In order to determine how much companies are asking their employees to speak English and how much this is reflected in job offers, the Center for Economic Studies reviewed the vacancies published in the Public Employment Service System nationwide during the week of June 19-26 and identified those whose descriptions require knowledge of the English language.
Luz Magdalena Salas – Vice President of Anif.
Courtesy – Anif
“For this text analysis we chose the words: English (with and without accent), bilingual (with and without umlaut), language and tongue. Of the 32,950 vacancies available at that time, 1,890, that is, 5.74% required knowledge of English or another language,” they noted as their first conclusion.
With this information and with a view to delving deeper into the economic sectors that most demand this type of skills, they made a breakdown by companies and activities, finding that the public sector, communications and administrative services account for more than 60% of the total requests.
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“The branches of administrative and support services, public administration, and communications are the ones that most demand this skill, with 28.31%, 28.2% and 18.73% respectively. It is logical to find a higher incidence of this requirement in these activities, because, as we mentioned at the beginning of the comment, workers in these sectors require greater knowledge of English because they have greater interaction with international contexts,” they explained.
In this case, they also recalled that these three economic activities have something in common, and that is that their activities require access to information or work tools that function in that language. Therefore, with a view to participating in the expansion that the labor market is experiencing, they are looking for people with these skills.
Professional demand
Another of the aspects reviewed was the educational level of those being asked to speak English. Here it was found that the majority Of the vacancies with this requirement correspond to positions that require a university level (50.58%).
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“There is also a significant proportion of positions requiring secondary education (23.70%). However, we found that the English requirement is not closely correlated with the salary range,” they reported.
For Anif, the data presented underline the importance of promoting learning of English as a key tool to improve employability and competitiveness in the Colombian labor market, and especially in some sectors of the economy, thus preparing for an increasingly interconnected and globalized environment.
Investing in training
Luz Magdalena Salas, vice president of ANIF, is one of the people who has been most insistent within ANIF on paying attention to this type of report, arguing that young people will be the ones to take the helm of the country in the coming years and therefore must prepare for the challenges that are being seen on the scene.
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“SIf we manage to identify the needs of the labor market “In different areas, we can direct the training or education of our young people in those specific areas that will lead them to access stable jobs and to enter this scenario in a faster and more relevant way. If we understand what the capabilities are, what the needs are, we can act better,” he said.
This expert added that “one of the things we have said, and which happens particularly with young people, but also with people of other ages, is that finding work in activities for which they are prepared is becoming more and more difficult. In other words, there is a mismatch between what the productive sector needs and what young people and workers have to offer.”
That said, and with the labor market figures as a reference, Salas maintains that here the country has a work front on which it can begin to generate training projects and strategies, understanding that we must be at the forefront.
