Workforce Language Services

Katie Hunter offers commentary on Barack Obama’s suggestion that we start teaching our children Spanish in Juan Guillermo Tornoe’s Hispanic Trending blog.  No matter how loudly people protest the phenomenon of “press 1 for English, press 2 for Spanish,” the fact is that Spanish-speakers are here to stay and their buying power is increasing. 

What does having 15 million Spanish speakers who don’t speak English “well” mean for us?

So here’s the translation: Those needs increase the demand for doctors, teachers, lawyers, writers, radio hosts, construction foremen, salesmen and many other types of blue and white collar U.S. workers who can speak Spanish. This need has already begun impacting hiring practices. Bilingual job fairs and Web sites are increasingly popular, and nearly half of corporate managers are starting to target Spanish-speaking job candidates. More schools have begun targeting Spanish-speakers too, even shelling out bigger bucks for bilingual teachers.

In the nonprofit sector, the ability to speak Spanish is often required and at least highly desired for many direct service positions.  I’ve also often seen a salary differential paid for those who are bilingual and trilingual. 

As we become more and more of a multilingual country, those who are willing to learn a new language are not only using their brains in new and beneficial ways, but are also increasing their ability to command a higher salary.