International services companies are having difficulty recruiting skilled language graduates in the Republic and feel the Government should do more to encourage language students, a new survey shows. Most students, however, feel that employers are not doing enough to communicate with graduates.
The survey, carried out by GP Communications for Contact, the annual language recruitment fair, shows that 80 per cent of multinationals in the Republic will be hiring language graduates this year, and three-quarters of these believe there will be a shortage. Half of the firms also believe the Government should do more to satisfy the demand for skilled language graduates, and some made calls for a broadening of the languages taught.
"A lot of Irish graduates have just one language, whereas their European counterparts would have two or three," said Mr John Xerri, one of those surveyed and the director of human resources at Xerox. "As a result, this limits the number of markets they can serve. In addition, the majority of graduates tend to concentrate on the French, Italian, German and Spanish languages, to the exclusion of others."
The survey, which polled 80 companies involved in internationally-traded services and 1,500 language students and graduates, highlights the issue of recruitment outside Dublin as one for improvement.
Some 40 per cent of the companies polled felt that geographical location was a determining issue in attracting the right calibre of graduate. The Co Kerry-based international financial transaction company, Fexco, was one complaining of graduates unwilling to leave the eastern seaboard.
But 80 per cent of students surveyed outside Dublin said that, upon graduation, they would prefer to work in their place of study.
Seven out of 10 students said employers were not doing enough to communicate directly, with many calling for a central database of employment opportunities and greater use of the Internet. Most also said the Government should establish a specialist agency for graduate placement.
The Contact fair will take place in the RDS in Dublin on March 4th and 5th. IBM, Xerox, Scottish Amicable, Citibank, Best Western, CPL and Grafton are among the companies attending.
