ELAN: Effects on the European economy of shortages of foreign language skills in enterprise

News summary

CILT, along with its research partner, InterAct International, have now completed their research into the effects on the European economy of shortages of foreign language skills in enterprise.

The study has shown that language skills can significantly improve export success for European companies. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) which have a languages strategy and invest in staff with language skills are shown to be able to achieve 44% more export sales than those which don't. Analysis of the survey responses identified some key elements of language management which were associated with strong export performance, and there could be very significant gains to the EU economy if all exporting SMEs employed these techniques.