Multilingualism is a must-have skill in today’s globally connected and culturally diverse workplace.
Companies value employees who can effectively communicate with their teams and help them reach out to more customers worldwide.
This is one of the reasons why the Philippines is considered one of the best outsourcing destinations.
Not only are we familiar with Western culture and norms, but we’re also highly proficient in speaking both English and Filipino.
Besides these, what are the other benefits of being multilingual in a remote work setup? Let’s find out.
Greatly Improves Workplace Communication
Of course, one of the most evident benefits of being multilingual in remote work is more effective communication with your team.
After all, it’s much easier to get things done when you understand your boss’s instructions, right?
However, this isn’t just limited to helping you understand what your boss and co-workers are saying.
Studies show multilingual children display better listening and problem-solving skills, along with more open-mindedness and creativity.
All these help increase workplace collaboration and establish better working relationships with co-workers, boosting your team’s productivity.
Opens Up New Job Opportunities
Fancy working as a translator? Or perhaps you’re looking for an edge to help you land a highly-coveted marketing job?
As companies expand their operations globally, they require employees who can reach out to customers who aren’t proficient in English. In the US, nine out of ten employers prefer to hire multilingual talent for their workforce.
Industries that are seeing an increase in demand for multilingual individuals include customer service, IT, marketing, and sales.
Additionally, Filipinos are highly in demand as English as a Second Language (ESL) tutors due to our proficiency in English.
Better Pay
Since language skills are in high demand in remote work today, many companies are willing to pay more for employees with these skills.
Depending on your job, experience, and the language/s you know, you can see demand anywhere between a 5% to 20% salary increase.
Additionally, being multilingual increases your chances of receiving a promotion since they’re you’re more likely to excel at managing culturally diverse teams and reaching out to international clients.
Boosts the Brain
There are other benefits to being multilingual, besides improving your communication skills in remote work.
According to experts, learning new languages improves your cognitive functions as well.
Switching between languages exercises your brain’s executive control systems, leading to better memory, critical thinking, and the ability to focus on and process information.
All these enable you to retain critical work-related information, solve problems on the fly, and be more efficient at work.
Fosters More Empathy for Others
Learning a new language doesn’t end with simply translating words from your native tongue to another. It’s also learning more about the culture it springs from so you can better understand the meaning of their words.
This is one reason multilingual employees are in such high demand – as they’re key to enabling companies to adjust their services and marketing strategies to international customers.
So, Are You Fluent in Speaking Multilingual?
Being able to speak multiple languages isn’t just a neat party trick you can use to pad your resume.
As the points above show, there are several benefits to being multilingual when looking for remote work.
So, what are you waiting for? Time to brush up on your English -or learn a new language today and watch your career reach new heights.
Got the language skills already, but don’t know where to look for online jobs?
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