Language skills becoming a must

Companies must hire multi-lingual
graduates if they are to compete in the global economy,  an international HR chief has warned.

Stephen Boley, global HR director
for IT at PricewaterhouseCoopers told a management training conference in
London, “We are always short of good people who can communicate well. We need
people who are flexible. Being able to cross borders and language barriers is
crucial.”

Another speaker criticised the UK’s
education system, claiming that it was depriving young people of the opportunity
to succeed in the international management market.

Ray Richardson, lecturer in
industrial relations at the London School of Economics, told the conference,
“As long as young people are forced to specialise

in just three subjects at A level,
then we will continue to lag behind in language skills.”

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The conference was organised by the
Community of European Management Schools (CEMS), an organisation which trains
business graduates interested in international management.

CEMS has “partners” in more than 60
large corporations across Europe and tailors its courses to their business
needs.