The 5 most in-demand foreign languages on the Czech jobs market

New statistics from the firm Grafton Recruitment suggest that a language other than Czech is required in 4 out of 10 job offers in the Czech Republic.

The most sought-after language at work is English; according to the recruitment company, last year it was listed as a requirement by 55% of job offers containing a condition of knowledge of a foreign language. 

Overall, English is five times more desirable than all other foreign languages ​​combined and 10 times more vital than the second most requested language, which is German. French, Italian, and Dutch make up the top five.

According to the most recent Eurostat statistics Czechs, together with French, Poles, Romanians, and Italians, are among the worst in the European Union for having a professional working knowledge of a foreign language. Grafton says this is despite the fact that language teaching is improving in the country.

For nearly half of job offers that require knowledge of a foreign language as a condition, the highest level is required; for example C1 or C2. More than 50 percent of applicants boast an intermediate level of language, at B1 or B2 level. English is the language known to some extent by most job seekers who know one. It is spoken to some extent by a total of 66 percent of candidates. There is a gap to the second most desired language, German, with just 12.5 percent having a working knowledge of it.

According to the ABSL industry association, around 30 languages ​​are spoken in this field. In addition to English and German other desired languages include Hebrew, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese and Korean.