At the beginning of June, the West Pomeranian branch of the Scandinavian-Polish Chamber of Commerce (SPCC) conducted a survey among university students in the region. It turned out that none of the universities offer Norwegian or Danish language classes, not to mention Finnish or Icelandic. Only the West Pomeranian University of Technology organizes Swedish language courses.

“We are perfectly aware how often foreign investors search for potential employees who know their mother tongue”, says Kaare Nordbo, the Head of the regional representative office of SPCC. “Although it’s not the key selection criterion, especially as English is commonly known in Northern Europe, Scandinavian entrepreneurs are willing to employ Danish, Norwegian or Swedish speakers. In our view, one Swedish course offered in the region which counts on cooperation with Scandinavian countries and has over a dozen of universities is definitely not enough. Something has to be done about it”.

Too few classes at universities

What labor market experts also notice is the fact that our universities cannot boast about the number of English or German courses.
“It worries me that the number of language classes offered to university graduates (from e.g. University of Szczecin) is not sufficient. Hence, if they do not learn on their own, they simply do not know foreign languages. It is alarming that the above frequently applies to graduates from such faculties as transport, logistics, economics or those for whom foreign languages are absolutely indispensable as such people find jobs in transport or forwarding companies and are responsible for direct client contacts”, worries Jolanta Bogutyn-Przybyszewska, Director in the UniKadr HR Consulting Firm.

At present, the knowledge of English is a must, especially as regards management positions. But there are cases like the one reported by Jolanta Bogutyn-Przybyszewska: “We were searching for candidates for a manager position for one of our clients, where fluency in English was a must. A manager in charge of one of Szczecin marketplaces submitted his application. During the job interview the recruitment specialist started to speak English, to which the recruited manager – an experienced, mature man, responded that he would return the following day as by that time he would have learnt to speak English. Needless to say, he never came back.
Generally, however, there are no problems with English-speaking employees.

“I have never heard any reservations of foreign investors interested in setting up their business in the region regarding poor knowledge of the English language among the local people”, says Paweł Bartoszewski, Director in the Investor Center of the Marshal Office. “30% of graduates can boast about their knowledge of German. It’s the best result all over Poland”.

That is crucial as frequently German is of key importance in the recruitment process. Knowledge of the language of our German neighbors is required by e.g. call centers, manufacturing companies selling fodder to elderly German farmers who do not speak English, German companies searching for office employees in our region and recently by UniCredit, which is opening a finance and accounting center in Szczecin to provide services to German and Austrian clients.

Languages spoken by entrepreneurs

And how fluent are those who require a thorough practical knowledge of English, German or Swedish of their employees? Aleksandra Madeja, the owner of the Presto Language School organizing language courses for corporations, notices that such programs are most often attended by delegated employees who focus on development of general language skills. Training addressed to the management and specialist/business courses are conducted less frequently. “Businessmen interested in languages other than English or German are scarce”, adds the Head of Presto.

Małgorzata Stopa, representing the Szczecin House of Economy established by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Neubrandenburg with the objective to act as an intermediary between Polish and German business entities, reckons that West Pomeranian entrepreneurs are far from excelling in German. “The House of Economy’s database includes records of about a thousand companies, the majority of which rely on our services with respect to talks with their counterparties from Germany or offer translation. It needs to be emphasized that the problem pertains mainly to older entrepreneurs”, says Małgorzata Stopa.

Marcin Rabczyński, a manager in the Administration Division of the Northern Chamber of Commerce, is not that harsh in his assessment of the regional businesses’ knowledge of foreign languages. “Frequent foreign language courses, e.g. those organized by the Northern Chamber of Commerce, constantly increase the fluency level. In face-to-face contacts entrepreneurs do not seek interpreters’ assistance that often”, claims Rabczyński, pointing to English, German and ever more frequently to Scandinavian languages. For its members the Chamber organizes English, German and Russian training at different levels of progress.

Magdalena Płyciennnik, mab