Computing Canada, July 7, 2006, Vol. 32 No. 10

IT jobs: English-speaking only need apply

According to a study, barriers such as language and cultural background may be holding foreign-born workers back
7/13/2006 2:46:00 PM By: Sarah Lysecki

“When you're looking at skills and technical professions there's a good body there of commonality,” said Tom Ryan, who's in charge of Communitech's recruitment strategy. “What we also find is culture shock. We find culture shock and language as a two-part killer.”

Not always, according to Herbert Hess, president of Hess Associates, which provides a placement service for people looking for work in the IT sector. Hess said that while language and culture shock can be a problem for some immigrants looking for work, people from countries such as India are used to working 10 to 14 hours a day - the kind of work ethic employers are looking for.

“They've got language skills, communication skills and are very well educated. They don't seem to have a problem in terms of fitting in.”

Hess said he's seeing more Middle Eastern people looking for work nowadays compared to previous years, when Russian and Asian workers dominated the field.

“The situation there (in the Middle East) is unstable and people there want to better themselves,” said Hess. “There's a reluctance not just (because of) the language skills but also if somebody comes from Pakistan, Iran, or Iraq, for example, there's an additional reluctance for a company to hire them because of the political situation. Companies like to remain neutral from a political point of view.”

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IT jobs: English-speaking only need apply