Xavier Tafalla is the warehouse supervisor of the industrial company Encofrats Alsina. At 53 years old, he has decided to sign up for an English course that the company offers free of charge after work hours. “I needed to improve the language because I often communicate with my colleagues from the Romanian and Polish subsidiaries. It has been a good decision, I notice that I have improved my vocabulary and that I have gained confidence and agility ”, he admits.
Encofrats Alsina offers English courses to its workers since 2007, just when it began its internationalization to the United States. "It was necessary for the workers to improve the level because in most cases it was insufficient," says Cristina Bonet, director of personnel at Encofrats Alsina. Since the pandemic, the company has also offered online courses and has now managed to get 13% of office staff to sign up for training. “Two hours a week classes are given after hours because that way the commitment of the workers is greater. Only people who want to learn sign up.”
Encofrats Alsina's commitment is common in the Catalan business fabric. Technology services firm Seidor also offers similar training. “We operate in 44 countries and English proficiency is essential for employee productivity. For 15 years, we have offered courses online and by videoconference," says Iván González, the company's head of marketing.
According to the Observatori dels Idiomes, promoted by the Femcat foundation, eight out of ten Catalan companies need to teach their workers English. And, according to the same survey, four out of ten believe that proficiency in English is the most lacking technical skill among candidates. “Because of globalization, English is increasingly necessary. Not only in managerial positions, but also in marketing, technical and industrial positions", comments Teresa Navarro, manager and head of the Femcat initiative, who adds that 40% of companies also request a second language, such as French or Spanish. German.
According to the study, which cites a report by Education First, Spain has moderate proficiency in English (545 points), below the Netherlands, Austria and Norway. For its part, Catalonia has a level slightly above the Spanish average (581), which places it in a similar position to Bulgaria. “We demand that the administrations increase language training in primary education and in vocational training. Thus, the efforts of the companies will be dedicated to offering truly specialized courses in English and not at a basic level”, sums up Navarro, who recalls that the cost of training is subsidized for companies.
