Given the role of Switzerland and Austria in the global economy,
German has overtaken French as the language most sought-after by employers, amid fears that companies face a shortfall of linguists, new research suggests.
The international trading presence of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the other German-speaking countries is on a par with that of the United States and China.
To that can be added Luxembourg and the German-speaking regions of Belgium. Employment opportunities on websites, like Indeed.com, show a strong uptick in jobs requiring a knowledge of German:
Jobs site Indeed said vacancies specifying German language skills increased by more than a tenth over the past three years, compared with only a slight rise in demand for French speakers.
The changing variables in the world’s trading markets — from Brexit to America’s interest in expanding its non-Chinese trade relationships — are fueling an increased demand at all levels and in all sectors for workers and professionals who have a working knowledge of the German language.
