Every company needs well-trained employees. This is an undeniable fact, but sometimes it is useful to remind ourselves why. Well-trained individuals are in a position to innovate. Due to frequent usage, we tend to associate the concept of innovation with education related to new technologies and the latest production systems, while forgetting that even the most everyday aspects of life constantly require rethinking and reinvention. By innovating, we are able to expand markets and offer better services to clients, leading us to the ultimate goal: becoming more competitive.
There is no doubt that language skills are a crucial asset for employees and businesses. University degrees, master’s programs, and some professional studies—often in private institutions—emphasize English as the main language of instruction to facilitate access to a globalized market, an entirely understandable approach as long as it is not solely aimed at attracting foreign students. However, we do not need to look far to recognize the importance of linguistic training for employees.
In Catalonia, a country of 8 million inhabitants, non-EU workers—mostly from South America, Asia, and Africa—are increasingly joining the service sector, often without sufficient knowledge of the local language. Large and small businesses, trade guilds, and business organizations have long expressed difficulties in hiring workers who can serve customers in Catalan. They see this deficiency as a dual problem that ultimately converges into one: first, the failure to meet minimum legal standards—being able to assist a client who addresses them in Catalan without forcing them to switch languages; and second, which directly relates to the first, the failure to uphold basic quality standards—a Catalan-speaking customer should not feel insecure or linguistically uncomfortable during a transaction.
At this intersection—whether at a store counter, a supermarket checkout, or the entrance to a home where a worker has arrived for renovations—different realities and origins meet and sometimes clash. Addressing this issue requires a social approach, not just a legal or quality-based one. It is essential to integrate, align, and balance rights and duties, or in other words, turn language into a meeting point that fosters cohesion between locals and newcomers. In this regard, the social role of businesses is crucial: they must act as a melting pot where aspirations and expectations merge. How can we ensure the right to receive service in Catalan if we do not openly and unequivocally acknowledge that linguistic rights are also labor rights? If employees do not have the right to access language training in their workplace and during working hours, how can they guarantee service quality, respect consumers’ linguistic rights, and, in turn, fully participate in what this country has to offer? Every stakeholder has a role to play, even at an individual level: a worker’s right to learn a public good like the country’s language is impractical if consumers do not actively and civically exercise their right to use it with them.
As mentioned, in this entire issue, corporate social responsibility is fundamental. The Catalan Council for Labor Relations, a stable space for social dialogue and institutional participation involving trade unions, business organizations, and the Catalan government’s Department of Business and Labor, provides a platform to promote the use of Catalan in labor relations. This includes an online resource that harmonizes social and linguistic responsibility, featuring a map highlighting successful language integration experiences in the workplace.
Additionally, the Consortium for Continuing Education of Catalonia of Catalonia and the Catalan Employment Service (SOC), in collaboration with the Consortium for Linguistic Normalization and the Department of Language Policy, are currently training nearly a thousand workers in Catalan. The ‘Prescribe Catalan’ training program, offered free of charge to healthcare professionals, has expanded its curriculum to include level A2, in addition to B1, B2, and C1.
These initiatives must continue to grow given the magnitude of the challenge. Businesses have a significant role to play and cannot remain on the sidelines.