Facts and figures

Confederation of British Industries (CBI) skills survey (2009)
This survey revealed that 74% of employers want to employ people with conversational skills in a foreign language – a figure that is likely to grow. If as a nation we fail to meet these demands, employers will increasingly recruit from abroad, and when it comes to interviews, monolingual British candidates will find themselves overshadowed by foreign counterparts with two, maybe even three languages.

GoSkills employer survey (2009)
Across all business, one of the most mentioned skills required was foreign languages.
Costing Babel: the Contribution of Language Skills to Exporting and Productivity in the UK (2007)
This report by economist James Foreman-Peck highlights the importance of language skills when it comes to international trade.
ELAN: Effects on the European Economy of Shortages of Foreign Language Skills in Enterprise (2005)
This report shows how a significant amount of business is being lost to European enterprise as a result of a lack of language skills.
BITC report (coming out soon)

Which of the Languages Work resources do you find most useful?