English is key handicap for workers

By Kang Seung-woo

Staff reporter

Shin Guang-ho is stressed out these days due to his demanding daily schedule. Every day after leaving the office he heads to an English language institute. Although he works at a leading telecommunicating company, the 30-year-old is convinced that he still needs to improve his English skills to survive.

In a survey of 583 office workers, Job Korea, a local online recruiting company, found that poor English-speaking ability is the biggest handicap for many Korean office workers, accounting for 36.6 percent of those questioned. Academic background was a distant runner-up at 21.8 percent.

Following on the list of disadvantages were a lack of personal connections (14 percent), alma mater (9.1 percent) and language study abroad (7.4 percent).

``In the age of globalization, English has become a measuring stick in evaluating who is a stand out performer,'' said Shin, who started learning English last year.

``As a result, people around me have spent more time studying English as part of a desperate attempt to improve their careers.''

Manager-level employees at companies are also in the same boat.

``I agree with the survey result to an extent because people feel nervous when they are poor at speaking English,'' said Yoo Jung-youn, senior manager of PR department at Kookmin Bank.

``Sometimes, I have a little difficulty dealing with foreign media in English.''

According to him, the bank supports its employees in learning English.

``We have programs for English studies and also financially support them when they enroll at an English institute.''

The study also showed that survey results were different according to the level of education.

Among those who graduated from high school or less, their educational background was their biggest weakness, representing 61.4 percent, while those who attended a two-year college ranked their English ability (40.5 percent) and academic career (30 percent) as first and second, respectively.

However, just 7.3 percent of four-year university graduates said their academic background is something they wish to keep undisclosed.

Among those who came from universities located in Seoul, 36.1 percent listed English ability as the No. 1 hurdle, followed by personal connections (22.6), while 43.3 percent of workers who came out of schools outside of Seoul picked the language problem as the biggest disadvantage.

Meanwhile, the survey said that academic career still plays an important role in their work life, as 55.1 percent of respondents in the survey have encountered discrimination due to their educational background.

About 66 percent of high school graduates or less and 60 percent of two-year college graduates found this to be true. About half or 49.5 percent of employees who graduated from four-year universities felt the same way.

영어가 직장인들 제1의 핸디캡

직장인들이 스스로 느끼고 있는 자신의 최대 ‘핸디캡’에 부족한 영어실력이 1위에 올랐다

취업포털 잡코리아(www.jobkorea.co.kr)가 남녀 직장인 593명을 대상으로 ‘직장인 핸디캡’에 대해 조사한 결과, 가장 많은 36.6%가 ‘영어 등 부족한 자신의 외국어 실력’을 꼽았으며 다음으로 ‘최종 학력‘을 꼽은 비율이 21.8%였다.

그리고▲부족한 인맥(14.0%) ▲출신학교(9.1%) ▲해외 어학연수 경험이 없다(7.4%) 등의 순이었다.

고졸 이하 학력 직장인 경우는 핸디캡으로 최종학력을 꼽은 비율이 61.4%로 많았고 전문대학 졸업자 경우도 최종학력(30.0%)과 외국어 실력(40.5%)을 꼽은 비율이 높았다.

반면, 4년제 대학교 졸업자의 경우는 최종 학력을 꼽은 비율이 7.3%로 상대적으로 낮았다.

서울지역 4년제 대학교 졸업자 경우, 외국어 실력(36.1%) 다음으로 부족한 인맥을 꼽은 비율(22.6%)이 높았고 지방 4년제 대학 졸업자는 외국어 실력(43.3%)을 꼽은 비율이 타 직장인들에 비해 높았다. 이 외에도 출신학교를 핸디캡으로 꼽은 직장인이 13.9%로 상대적으로 많았다.

한편, 직장인 중 절반이 넘는 55.1%가 회사 생활을 하면서 ‘학벌 소외감’을 느낀 적이 있다고 답했다.