English the preferred language for world business : poll NEW YORK BY CHRIS MICHAUD
Workers whose jobs require them to interact with people in foreign countries say that English is the dominant language of business, according to a new poll.
More than one quarter of employee in 26 countries around the world told an lpsos poll that their jobs involve dealing with people in other countries. And of those, two thirds said that English is the language they use most often.
Workers in India, Singapore and Sauai Arabia were the most likely to say their jobs involved interacting with people in other countries, with 59 percent, 55 percent and 50 percent saying so, respectively. But only 9 percent in Japan and 13 percent in Russia said their work required communication outside the country.
‘’The most revealing aspect to this survey is how English has emerged as the default language for business around the world,” said Darrell Bricker,CEO of lpsos Global Public Affairs which conducted the poll for Reuters.
The survey of 16,344 employed adults in 26 countries showed that 67 percent, or just over two-thirds, of workers who deal with people beyond their borders said English was the language used most often, with Spanish a very distant second at five percent.