German was the most popular language required for jobs in September, highlighting the war for talent when it comes to German speakers. That’s according to specialist language job board multilingualvacancies.com.

Statistics of jobs posted on the site show that with 460 roles, German is by far the most sought after language, with the next most popular one being French, required for 332 jobs. Other Western European languages were also in demand, with Dutch the third most requested language, followed by Spanish and Italian which both featured 132 times on job adverts in September. The Scandinavian languages were next on the list and there was also a niche demand for the languages of Japan and China.

“With a lot of business activity in Germany and with the country having a similar business culture to ours in the UK, it is no surprise that German is the language requested by employers the most” comments Miranda Reid, Associate Director of multilingualvacancies.com. “These figures also show the competition amongst businesses for good German speakers. Organisations are often unaware of just how many other companies are vying for these candidates and some lose out on the best talent by simply taking too long to make a decision about who to hire. It’s crucial for businesses to have staff that are able to communicate with clients and customers in their own language – it really can make or break a deal.”