Jobseekers speaking more than one language can command £3,000 more annually

• French speakers earn the most, with average salaries reaching £34,280
• Salaries are lowest for Welsh speakers, averaging at £24,863
• Spanish speakers in highest demand, with 3,426 roles currently available in the UK, highest of any second language

Languages are still valuable for jobseekers, with wages for multilingual candidates sitting higher than monolingual candidates, according to new research from smarter job search engine Adzuna.

Adzuna analysed over 120,000 UK jobseeker CVs uploaded to the ValueMyCV tool between 2019 and 2022.  Text mining technology was used to look at the career pathways taken by recent grads, and the languages they speak, to reveal average earnings 5 years after graduation. 

French has been named the highest earning language in August 2022. The 300 million individuals globally who speak French can expect salaries of £34,280, five years after graduating. This is notably higher than those who speak just English, with average salaries for English sitting at £31,074.  Other high-earning languages include Mandarin (£33,692), German (£33,396), and Dutch (£32,418). 

Welsh is the least lucrative language, with candidates who speak the language seeing average salaries of £24,863. The low salary for Welsh speakers results from the language being mainly confined to Wales, where salaries tend to be slightly lower. Welsh also has a comparatively low number of speakers, sitting at 892,200 currently. Other languages that have average salaries lower than English include Urdu (£29,548) and Russian (£29,691). 

Table 1: Average Salaries, 5 years after graduation - By Language

Spanish speakers are currently facing the best job opportunities, with 3,426 open vacancies. German speakers are also in luck, with 1,511 available roles. Other languages with the highest number of opportunities include French (1,082), Italian (445), and Mandarin (387). 

Urdu (5), Hindi (13), and Portuguese (42) have the smallest number of available vacancies in the current market. 

Table 2: The Number of Open Vacancies - By Language 

Paul Lewis, chief customer officer at job search engine Adzuna, comments: “Despite improving translation technology, multilinguist candidates are still at an advantage. French speakers are the highest earners, commanding premiums of over £3,000 more than those speaking English alone. As well as a financial boost, multilinguist jobseekers are facing more opportunities. Spanish, German, and French speakers have plenty of opportunities to choose from. Businesses are more global than ever and digitalisation is bringing global customer bases, and often global workforces too. Following a spike in language learning during the lockdowns, Brits are reaping the rewards of speaking multiple tongues.”