While Foreign Workers Continue to Move into the U.S. Job Market, Few Companies Are Effectively Dealing with Language Limitations

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As foreign-born workers make up a larger share of the U.S. workforce, more employers will be dealing with language limitations. But a new survey by The Conference Board finds that a majority of employers are doing very little to overcome this challenge.

"The future for many U.S. based companies appears flush with potential employees lacking English language skills," says Chris Woock, author of the report. "Whether and how companies choose to accommodate these workers could have significant impacts on the sustainability of success. Latest evidence suggests companies could do well to recruit and hire the best available talent, irrespective of their language limitations, and invest in language training.”

Foreign-born Americans comprise more than 10% of the population, and roughly 15% of the labor force, and half of net labor force increases. More than 50% of foreign-born workers are from Latin America. One-quarter is from Asia. Assuming current immigration levels continue, immigrants will account for about half of the growth in America's working age population between now and 2015, and will account for most of the growth through 2025.

Lack of Proficient English Limits Promotion Opportunities

A survey by The Conference Board of senior HR, training and development executives finds that 66 percent of companies do not provide English language skills in their training programs. Among this group, more than half said this is because they "have not found a need to warrant such training," even though more than 80% report employing English-deficient employees. Some of these companies have found alternative means for accommodating such employees. For example, one in five report using bilingual supervisors.

Companies that don't provide training say they would include English language skills in their training programs if it would result in increased productivity. More than half said that performance gains would drive their inclusion, with 27%choosing increased productivity, and 27% identifying employee engagement.