UK employers are becoming more flexible in their approach to hiring people who don’t speak English in a bid to combat labour shortages.
New research from Indeed revealed that 2.8% of advertised roles stated “English not required”, with most of these promoting lower-paid jobs to attract migrant workers.
The hiring platform’s data showed the vacancies included work in cleaning and sanitation (7.9%), driving (7.6%), and beauty and wellness (6.6%).
But although certain sectors are offering some language flexibility in their acceptance of workers without local language knowledge, the UK is still far behind when compared with other European countries.
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The study found the Netherlands was leading the way in advertising roles that did not require candidates to speak the national language (7.8%), followed by 5.8% in Spain. In Italy and France, 4% offered the same flexibility, while in Germany this was similar to the UK at 2.7%.
Jack Kennedy, senior economist at Indeed, said: “Language requirement shares reflect deep trends in labour markets that are important to understanding migration. Employers may be using flexibility with English language skills as a signal for willingness to hire foreign workers.
While most migrants to the UK spoke English or tend to eventually learn it, he said, it was important to note that others in certain regions and industries might delay doing so until after they begun working.
Indeed found that although flexible language requirements may help to attract lower skilled workers, since Brexit visa sponsorship offers were now more important in hiring highly skilled migrants, yet just 0.5% of job postings explicitly offered these.
Kennedy added: “In large cities like London, some migrant workers might easily live and work for decades without ever speaking the local language. It’s therefore encouraging to see willingness from employers in certain industries to hire workers without English language skills which could help drive thriving workforces in lower paid sectors.
“However, with our recent research showing that the UK is struggling to attract higher skilled workers from abroad relative to other European countries, the low level of visa sponsorship offers could signal there’s still some way to go to see a boost of foreign talent in higher paid and skilled industries.”
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