An employee who can speak two languages is, to a small business, the equivalent of two employees at half the payroll. Increasingly, speakers of Arabic specifically are in high demand in the private sector, the public sector and for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
Arabic is spoken in 23 countries as an official or co-official language and an additional seven countries as a recognised minority language, stretching from Mauritania in the West to Oman on the Arabian Sea. Though there are an approximate 422million native and non-native speakers across the world, it is offset by the fact that the population of the Arab countries alone totals more than this at around 444million inhabitants. Inside the region different dialects and non-Arabic languages are spoken and outside the region there are still relatively few learners.
Government and Diplomacy
In the United Kingdom, the largest employer is the Civil Service. With health, education and defence amongst the covered departments this is perhaps unsurprising. However, though the Civil Service hosts the most employees of any organisation in the country, it also has strict entry criteria. For the most part, only nationals from the UK, the Republic of Ireland and the Commonwealth are eligible for recruitment. This narrows even further for reserved postings which includes all positions in the security and intelligence services, as well as the vast majority of placements in the Diplomatic Service and Foreign and Commonwealth Office – where special allegiance to the Crown is a requirement and one only met by UK nationals.
An increased focus on relations between the West and Arab countries in combination with the fact that employment is limited to people born in the UK means that Arabic speakers are in especially high demand in the diplomatic and intelligence services.
New Investments
The population of the Middle East is projected to rise dramatically to 580million by 2030, with the current demographics showing a skew towards adolescents and youth in the age range 10-24 years old. This population growth is expected to drive parallel economic growth meaning the region is of immense interest to willing entrepreneurs.
Additionally, the region is wealthy in fundamental natural resources, holding 53% of the world’s oil reserves and making it a significant player in the global economy. However, the oil-rich Gulf countries are counter-balances with diverse and innovative investment from Morocco and Jordan, among others, into renewable energy sources. There are therefore both traditional and modern business opportunities in the fields of real estate, technology and construction, but these can only be accessed through direct engagement with Arab industry. According to a survey from 2015 however, 11 Arab countries are likely to require translation, mediation or the recruitment of bilingual English-Arabic experts.
Beyond Business
In recognition of the geopolitical significance of the region, Arabic is one of the three non-Western official languages of the United Nations, with business also conducted in Chinese, English, Russian, French and Spanish. The UN often specifically targets recruitment drives at Arabic speakers, searching for interpreters but also political affairs to field officers to be located around the world.
Even more pressing are the broader efforts of NGOs and charities to deal with ongoing refugee crises in the region. Prior to the Ukraine War, 54.8% of the world’s refugees originated from the Middle East and networks needed to be built to support their travel to safe second countries then help them settle. Capable Arabic speakers who can teach those for whom Arabic is their mother tongue to speak the language of their new home country will play a crucial role in this process.
Ultimately it is this drive for cross-cultural understanding, integration and communication – one that echoes through centuries to the Translation Movement of the Abbasid era when skilled Greek-Arabic translators preserved much of classical Greek philosophy that would otherwise have been lost – that represents the true humanitarian demand for language learners. Whether it is in the service of business, charity or the arts adding Arabic as a string to your bow will only be an advantage to you and a benefit to your organisation.
