Manchester companies speak multilingual jobseekers’ language
29 July 2013
The increasingly global nature of businesses in and around Manchester has meant an increase in demand for multilingual staff, says recruitment firm Stark Brooks.
Mon, 29 Jul 2013The increasingly global nature of businesses in and around Manchester has meant an increase in demand for multilingual staff, says recruitment firm Stark Brooks.
Anabelle Surch-Williams, a manager at Stark Brooks, herself fluent in both French and Spanish, says that jobseekers in Greater Manchester with two or more foreign languages have a definite edge over their competitors, due to the increasing number of firms establishing or consolidating overseas operations.
“The more languages a candidate has, the more versatile they appear and, ultimately, the more value they can add to a business,” she says.
The company has seen a 20% surge in the past 18 months in positions specifying the ability to speak two or more foreign languages.
Sought-after languages include French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Arabic and Cantonese while Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Polish and Russian are increasingly in demand.
A large number of companies seek multilingual staff for managerial, accounting, finance, human resources and IT helpdesk roles. The annual salaries for such positions range from £18k-£100k.
In recent years a number of companies including McBride, Sainsbury’s, SPX and WorldPay have launched shared service centres housing various back office functions supporting the region.
Anabelle Surch-Williams, a manager at Stark Brooks, herself fluent in both French and Spanish, says that jobseekers in Greater Manchester with two or more foreign languages have a definite edge over their competitors, due to the increasing number of firms establishing or consolidating overseas operations.
“The more languages a candidate has, the more versatile they appear and, ultimately, the more value they can add to a business,” she says.
The company has seen a 20% surge in the past 18 months in positions specifying the ability to speak two or more foreign languages.
Sought-after languages include French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Arabic and Cantonese while Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Polish and Russian are increasingly in demand.
A large number of companies seek multilingual staff for managerial, accounting, finance, human resources and IT helpdesk roles. The annual salaries for such positions range from £18k-£100k.
In recent years a number of companies including McBride, Sainsbury’s, SPX and WorldPay have launched shared service centres housing various back office functions supporting the region.