FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND EMPLOYABILITY: A COMPLEX

RELATIONSHIP. CASE STUDY IN THE REGION OF VISEU

(PORTUGAL)
A. Costa Lopes1, A. Oliveira1, F. Amante2, I. Oliveira1, J. Abrantes1, M.L. Jesus
Pato1, O. Amaral1, S. Relvas3, S. Fidalgo1, V. Delplancq1
1
CI&DETS - Viseu Polytechnic Institute (PORTUGAL)
2
CEL-University of Trás-os-Montes & Alto Douro (PORTUGAL)
3
Viseu Polytechnic Institute (PORTUGAL)

Abstract
The challenges of today's societies when it comes to employability and to the reality of the current
labour market are more and more delicate and diversified. One of the major commitments we expect
from higher education is to prepare its students to face this kind of complexity, understanding its
nuances and having the capacity to adapt quickly to situations which are common in companies’ lives.
From this perspective, the assessment of the impact that the mastery of FL (foreign languages)
among our students can have on the different business sectors becomes paramount. It involves
reorganising the work carried out with the students during their academic path and raising awareness
of future professionals so they may understand the importance of obtaining and mastering
communicative skills in foreign languages that will provide them with the right tools to ensure an
effective response to the requirements they will have to meet when they apply for a job.
The close connection that exists between higher education institutions and the business world also
allows the companies to realise that they should (re)think their recruitment policy in order to take into
account the importance of foreign languages (FL).
This article bears therefore upon the tasks carried out, as well as on the findings enabled by the
project “Foreign Languages and Employability” (FLE) since the date when it was launched on January
2017, at the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (IPV), in Portugal. It focuses on creating a closer
relationship with the local business community with a view to understand its needs regarding FL. The
aim of the project is to strengthen the more practical aspects of the students’ education to ensure the
graduates’ employability and a successful professional development.
Data collection is carried out through the analysis of job offers, through the replies given to online
surveys and through semi-structured interviews. The project includes representatives of the different
IPV schools (Agrarian, Education, Health, Technology and Management) working in different sectors
of the institution, at the time of the project debut.
Keywords: Foreign languages (FL); needs analysis; employability; professional development; business
sector; region of Viseu (Portugal).

1 INTRODUCTION
The objective of the multilingualism policy developed by the European Commission (EC) is, among
others, to enable its citizens to master at least two foreign languages. Language skills allow people to
study and to work abroad and live in a multicultural environment. Therefore, they are considered a
factor of competitiveness at a macroeconomic level and an essential element that will increase the
individuals’ employability ([1]).
The ELAN study (Effects on the European economy of shortages of FL skills in Enterprise) conducted
in 2006 ([2]) showed that a significant number of European SMEs had to face serious market losses
because of their weak FL skills (linguistic, cultural and Intercultural). The world common business
language is English but many other languages are used and that is why the companies are starting to
realise they should also invest in other languages as well.
It concludes that, since the development of language skills among their workers will bring additional
and significant costs- of which companies are well aware- the country’s economy will have to take into

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account the impact this kind of investment will have on the business success and on the business
performance.
The Strategic Framework – Education and Training 2020 ([3]) reminds us that skills and qualifications
requirements follow the constant evolution of the labour market:
“Skills, competences, and qualifications that people need change over time. To deal with these
changes people need to be equipped with a variety of basic skills, including literacy,
numeracy, foreign languages, science and digital skills.” ([4]).
The 2010 Eurobarometer report ([5]) focused on the graduates’ employability (with 7000 employers
from 31 countries); for 96% of the participants, communicative skills are essential job requirements;
67% of them greatly value the applicants’ FL skills.
In 2013, the British Chamber of Commerce ([13]) recognized that the UK's export policy was
negatively affected by the lack of FL skills of its business actors: the markets were going through a
constant state of expansion and the language barriers were incessantly increasing. Only 5% of the
inquired entrepreneurs claimed to be fluent in French and in the other most common business
languages (Mandarin, Russian, German, Spanish and Italian).
Advanced skills in FL, people’s age group and their profession situation/activity and the chances of
experiencing career progression are linked; this association is even more evident when people master
two and more FL ([1]). In terms of employment opportunities, we found out that the need for
employees with FL skills varies according to the European geographical area where the companies
are based.
In a work conducted on the economic impact of languages ([7])), Grin analysed the differences that
exist between the wages paid by some companies and how these differences have to do with FL skills
that their employees possess and use in their professional activity, in an attempt to move from a
microeconomic domain to a macroeconomic level. The evidence proves that the mastery of such skills
has resulted in higher wages. The author also underlines the importance of investing in training, a
training that can include on-the-job learning.
OECD ([8]) states that: “only 33% of young adults in Portugal have higher education qualification, a
situation which is far below the OECD average (42%). Increasing these comparatively low levels of
education will be crucial to improve workers’ well-being and increase their monthly income. Better
skills and qualifications will also reduce the increasing inequality in the distribution of income by
providing higher income-earning opportunities for currently low-skilled workers, who often have low
wages, as well.” It advocates the existence of a better connection between the research conducted in
higher education institutions and the business sector in order to bridge the existing qualification gaps.
"Improving workers’ skills will also lead to a greater economic growth, since it will help minimize the
qualification weaknesses that affect the performances of Portuguese companies. More than two thirds
of these companies consider that finding workers with adequate qualifications is an obstacle to the
development of their activities. "([9])
The FLE project (Foreign Languages and Employability) began in January 2017 at the Polytechnic
Institute of Viseu – IPV (Portugal) ([10]; [11]). This article intends to present that project, as well as to
reveal the first conclusions of the analysis of the data collected.

2 METHODOLOGY
The IPV is a higher education institution whose mission is to train highly skilled professionals through
educational strategies and research procedures implemented in close connection with the region, in
order to help its promotion and to contribute to its development and its economy.
The IPV is formed by 5 integrated schools, each with specifically defined scientific fields: agrarian,
education, management, health and technology.
The FLE research project team consists of Professors & Researchers who, at the beginning of the
project, in 2017, worked at these organic units, experts in FL and entrepreneurship. The interest of this
kind of partnership is to reach a better understanding of the concerns and interests of different and
specific work environments, to get closer to these different realities and to find professionals that come
with different career backgrounds.

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The project is part of the research centre of the IPV and aims to understand the kind of connection
that exists between FL skills and the labour market that represents the region of Viseu (Beira Alta,
Portugal), and how and to what extent companies value and develop such skills.
It also aims to explain the way these companies will lead their early recruitment process in terms of
the importance they will grant FL mastery and the kind of profit these skills can bring to the company.
Another of its intentions is to understand whether the employees’ FL skills will play a significant role in
their career progression and whether they will affect the employees’ wages or bring them any other
advantages within the company.
On the whole, this study seeks to contribute to the improvement of the graduates’ employability,
increasing the competitiveness of the educational offer, in terms of FL competences.
Finally, it seeks to raise the awareness of the external community about the importance that should be
granted to FL and about the crucial role played by this network of partnerships formed between the
corporate world and higher education institutions.
Several different instruments (of a quantitative or qualitative type) were produced to collect the data
and the results were cross-checked so as to enable a better assessment of the relationship between
FL, recruitment, career opportunity and professional promotion.
After a thorough review of the literature available on the subject, a questionnaire was prepared. Its
main objective was to obtain data on the characterisation of the companies based in the region of
Viseu, the kind of relevance that FL skills have during the recruitment process and the need felt by
companies to hire employees who possess a good FL knowledge. The information provided was
strictly confidential; it was used for statistical treatment purposes only. The project team requested the
support of the Associação Empresarial da Região de Viseu (the business association of the Viseu
region) so they could have access to its database. The survey was made available online for 495
entrepreneurs.
The analysis conducted on the job offers available in Viseu and in its region allows us to establish
certain relationships between the jobs offered (function, tasks, requirements, the required professional
experience, the type of contract...), the required FL competencies and their respective levels, the
necessary academic qualification, the working hours, the wages and career prospects. 180 job offers,
advertised in different websites (e.g. Indeed, Net-jobs, Trovit etc.), were analysed during a period of
30 weeks. As some job offers may appear on several websites and for several weeks in a row, special
attention was paid to ensure that the same offer wouldn’t be taken into account more than once.
The semi-structured interviews carried out with employers from the Viseu region aims at clarifying the
way in which language skills and the labour market can establish a real and effective connection. This
aim will be achieved through the information collected from the analysis of all the job offers that had
been selected. The conversation topics have to do with the relationships that exist between FL skills
and recruitment competitions, career progression and business strategies and the added value that
such skills can bring to the business. This work is currently under preparation.
In parallel, dissemination and awareness-raising activities, aimed at different types of audiences,
wanted to show the role that FL can play as a potential force for growth that will help the
implementation of a successful professional development and deepen people’s perception about the
importance of FL in different professional fields.

3 RESULTS
495 companies were invited to participate in the online survey, but only 12 have accepted the
invitation. This situation occurred because these companies are regularly invited to participate in many
questionnaires of different nature.
180 job offers published on the Internet were analysed over a period of five months. The most obvious
conclusion is that 41% of those offers require FL skills. 53 of those job offers (29%) require a mastery
of English (advanced level or at least a good knowledge); 2 of them require a good knowledge of a
second FL, although they don’t specify which; 2 indicate Spanish as a preferential factor and another 2
point to French as an added value. 5% declare that applicants should be fluent in French (this was a
mandatory factor). In more exceptional cases, some other FL, such as German, Dutch and Italian,
were also required. One of the companies was looking for someone who could speak four different FL.
The economic sectors that were offering those jobs vary greatly (as does the size of the entities that

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were recruiting) and included the services sector, public administration, the pharmaceutical industry
and other companies.

4 CONCLUSIONS
In Viseu and in its region, FL and employability are closely connected: these FL skills seem to be an
element that can generate more employment opportunities, an added value when people apply for a
job and a positive factor in career progression. They provide an easier access to jobs that require a
certain level of responsibility.
When applicants have the same competencies, the mastery of a FL usually makes a difference.
English is the most requested FL, but other languages are valued, too (French, German, Dutch and
Italian). The mastery of 2 FL or more can be highly valued. Some companies consider experiences
abroad an added-value.
According to the questionnaires, the main impact that FL skills can have on an employees’ situation
has to do with a possible career progression that will give them the chance to reach a position within
the company in which they would have more responsibilities and would enjoy other forms of promotion
through mobility and a more attractive wage.
In a company, the job positions, services, and the sectors where FL skills are more often required are
the management, the company’s board, the consultancy services, the commercial and the back office
sectors. The requirements in terms of FL increase with the levels of qualification and the experience
required. Written and oral FL competences are required.
Their employees’ language skills can help employers infer other kind of competences, such as their
adjustment capacity, their curiosity, empathy and the ability to develop the business image, its
effectiveness and competitiveness.
Future perspectives of this study include: to expand the research to the entire country, to improve the
analysis procedures of the job offers available, to develop direct contacts with the companies so they
can ask them directly the kind of profiles they are looking for and to work the data from a language
economy perspective.

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