Because of the pandemic, a lot of businesses have shifted to remote work, which allowed talented non-native speakers from outside the US to join American companies. However, despite all the advantages of a multinational workforce, there is one significant issue that might affect successful teamwork and communication—namely, the English language proficiency level.
It’s widely believed that non-natives who speak English fluently are better accepted and earn more in the US. One of the things that can help them sound more native, at least, when it comes to the written language, is AI writing assistants.
No wonder that these solutions are getting more and more popular these days: according to Dataintelo, the AI Writing Assistant Software market is anticipated to grow at an average rate of 28% during the forecast period, from $1,2b in 2021 until 2028.
To better understand how English proficiency affects employee performance, we have conducted a survey. Here’s what we have found.
Methodology
To compile the report, Linguix’s team analyzed data from 2146 respondents, of whom almost 73% were non-native speakers.
We asked them a number of questions concerning their English language skills with regard to their work performance and communication with colleagues.
Key takeaways
90% of all the respondents think English writing skills directly affect their career. This is not surprising given the fact that a big deal of work communication now occurs through email correspondence or via messengers.
Over 54% of respondents have experienced a language barrier in the workplace. Which means, more than half of the employees might be underperforming due to linguistic issues—but this can easily be avoided if necessary measures are taken.
What’s more, 60% of English-natives have struggled to communicate with non-native coworkers in writing. So, obviously, the lack of English language skills concerns most of the team, not only non-natives themselves.
What can companies do?
Finally, we’ve asked the respondents whether they think their employers need to take any steps to improve the situation.
The overwhelming majority agree that companies should help non-native employees improve their writing skills. Which means, it’s in the employer’s interests to provide employees with the necessary training and tools, such as an AI writing assistant.
For example, Linguix offers a universal solution for businesses for just as little as $50 a month. It includes all the necessary writing enhancement tools as well as some additional options like content templates (shortcuts), secure secret mode and a profound analytics module.
Final thoughts
As our survey has shown, language barriers are real and can significantly hamper employees’ performance and work communication. To deal with this problem, companies should pay more attention to providing non-natives with all the necessary training and tools to help them improve their skills. At Linguix, we’re committed to making that task easier for whole teams by offering AI-based solutions that empower your employees to make the most of their written communications.