2012 Business English Index

Lack of Business English Skills Undermines Global Productivity

A lack of Business English proficiency threatens global productivity and output.

“The current shortage of talent with the aptitude to speak, present, write, sell and service customers in English has become a high-performance dilemma for individual companies, industries, and even countries.”

Mahesh Ram, GlobalEnglish CEO

Yet only 7%strongly agree that their current English skills are sufficient for success on the job.

of non-native English-speaking employees say communicating in English is critical or important for their jobs.92%

Source: The Globalization of English Report, GlobalEnglish Corporation, 2010

of world growth over the next few years will come from emerging markets, with China and India accounting for 40 percent of that growth.*

70%

Only 13%of graduates from emerging countries are suitable for employment in global companies, and the #1 reason cited is a lack of English skills.**

* Source: The world turned upside down, The Economist, April 15, 2010** Source: The Emerging Global Labor Market: Part II—The Supply of

Offshore Talent in Services, McKinsey & Company, June 2005

The annual Business English Index (BEI) measures the level of Business English proficiency in workplaces around the world.

BEI

GlobalEnglish works with multinational companies to support performance in Business English across the workforce.

A sliding 10-point scale ranks employees into four levels of proficiency.

1 53 7 92 64 8 10

BEGINNER BASIC INTERMEDIATE ADVANCEDAble to read and communicate using only simple questions and statements, but can’t communicate and understand basic business information during phone calls.

Able to understand business presentations and communicate descriptions of problems and solutions, but can’t take an active role in business discussions or perform relatively complex tasks.

Can take an active role in business discussions and perform relatively complex tasks.

Able to communicate and collaborate much like a native English speaker.

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In the 2012 index, the average global BEI score is only 4.15 out of 10.

This score translates into a workforce that can only understand basic information on the telephone or in person...

But cannot understand most business presentations or take a leadership role in business discussions.

38%Meaning they can’t understand or communicate basic business information during phone calls.

More than 1/3of the global workforce is working in Business English at a beginner level!

of workers were ranked as beginners...

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The Philippines and Norway led the rankings.

Both countries are trending towards stronger economies according to the World Bank’s latest GDP data.

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The highest ranking country in the survey, the Philippines, recently overtook India as a hub for call centers despite being only 1/10 the size.

Over 400,000 Filipinos are now employed in call centers, roughly 50,000 more than in India.

Source: “A New Capital of Call Centers,” The New York Times, November 5, 2011

BEGINNER BASIC INTERMEDIATE ADVANCED

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Those trying to recover, and those trying to grow have a significant barrier to their success.

While those in emerging South American markets scored under 3.0...

Struggling economic powers such as Japan, Italy and Mexico all scored below a 4.0...

BEGINNER BASIC INTERMEDIATE ADVANCED

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Global talent mobility puts even native English-speaking countries at risk.

Scores for the U.S. declined from 6.9 to 5.09 year over year.

global workers employed in the U.S. across the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields is foreign-born.*

One in five

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* Source: “The Competitiveness and Innovative Capacity of the United States,” US Department of Commerce, January 2012

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Aerospace and defense, professional services and financial services were the highest-scoring industry sectors.

Although even these service-oriented industries are stuck at basic levels.

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2012 Business English Index by Industry Sector

The same professional services company topped the survey for a second year running.

The company continues to grow by differentiating itself through higher levels of Business English proficiency across the workforce.

In 2011, this BEI level for this company was

7.61

How can you innovate and collaborate globally without a common language?

Effective business communications can lead to a 47% higher total shareholder return.*

* Source: Towers Watson 2009/2010 Communications ROI Study

$$ $$$+ =

Collaboration is critical to future business innovation.

Business English Index for Top 30 Countries by Size of Labor Force

BEGINNER BASIC INTERMEDIATE ADVANCED

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COUNTRY BEI COUNTRY BEI COUNTRY BEI

1. CHINA 4.44

2. INDIA 5.57

3. UNITED STATES 5.09

4. INDONESIA 5.28

5. BRAZIL 2.95

6. BANGLADESH *

7. RUSSIA 3.60

8. JAPAN 3.40

9. PAKISTAN *

10. NIGERIA *

11. MEXICO 3.50

12. VIETNAM 4.55

13. GERMANY 4.32

14. PHILIPPINES 7.11

15. THAILAND 4.52

16. ETHIOPIA *

17. CONGO *

18. BURMA *

19. UK 5.24

20. FRANCE 4.54

21. EGYPT 5.18

22. TURKEY 2.97

23. IRAN *

24. SOUTH KOREA 4.86

25. ITALY 3.80

26. TANZANIA *

27. SPAIN 4.18

28. UKRAINE 3.76

29. COLOMBIA 2.75

30. CANADA 5.45

* Insufficient data (less than 50 respondents) to calculate a full BEI score for these countries.

ARMENIA 0.73

COTE D’IVOIRE 2.06

TAIWAN 2.28

HONDURAS 2.67

COLOMBIA 2.75

CHILE 2.76

EL SALVADOR 2.89

SAUDI ARABIA 2.90

ISRAEL 2.90

BRAZIL 2.95

TURKEY 2.97

PERU 3.06

MOROCCO 3.32

ECUADOR 3.33

JAPAN 3.40

VENEZUELA 3.40

MOZAMBIQUE 3.46

SLOVAKIA 3.48

MEXICO 3.50

KAZAKHSTAN 3.54

RUSSIAN FED. 3.60

ANGOLA 3.66

BELGIUM 3.72

UKRAINE 3.76

HUNGARY 3.79

ITALY 3.80

SUDAN 3.84

CONGO 3.89

BOLIVIA 3.91

PARAGUAY 4.06

LUXEMBOURG 4.11

CZECH REPUBLIC 4.11

PUERTO RICO 4.15

SPAIN 4.18

ALGERIA 4.22

U. A. E. 4.24

GUATEMALA 4.26

URUGUAY 4.27

GERMANY 4.32

SWITZERLAND 4.37

COSTA RICA 4.43

CHINA 4.44

ARGENTINA 4.49

THAILAND 4.52

FRANCE 4.54

AUSTRIA 4.54

VIET NAM 4.55

ROMANIA 4.56

PORTUGAL 4.65

TUNISIA 4.69

PANAMA 4.73

DENMARK 4.81

SOUTH KOREA 4.86

DOMINICAN REP. 4.94

OMAN 5.01

POLAND 5.07

UNITED STATES 5.09

NETHERLANDS 5.10

EGYPT 5.18

BULGARIA 5.23

UNITED KINGDOM 5.24

INDONESIA 5.28

FINLAND 5.31

SWEDEN 5.31

HONG KONG 5.38

GREECE 5.40

CANADA 5.45

SINGAPORE 5.53

LITHUANIA 5.55

INDIA 5.57

MALAYSIA 6.09

AUSTRALIA 6.17

SLOVENIA 6.19

SERBIA 6.38

NORWAY 6.54

PHILIPPINES 7.11

2012 BEI Summary of Results by CountryCOUNTRY BEI COUNTRY BEI COUNTRY BEI COUNTRY BEI

Country averages ranged from 0.73 (Armenia) to 7.11 (Philippines). BEGINNER BASIC INTERMEDIATE ADVANCED

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What’s your company’s Business English Index score?

http://www.globalenglish.com/business_english_index