Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well, you're definitely not an international businessmen.
This is not a one language world. Despite your apparent dislike of Hispanics as demonstrated on this forum, Spanish is an important language worldwide.
I take it that you include Russia, China and India for that importance of Spanish? Okay, and Australia and Canada?
I suggest that requiring Spanish as a hiring criteria should be classified as discrimination.
I consider it a plus to speak a language other than english but since I don't (I took Ancient Greek in HS 35 years ago) I also see the problems it presents. There have been jobs I just don't bother applying for because they prefer a second language and, to be honest, I don't really WANT a job dealing with non english speaking people. It's just too frustrating for me.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 23,023,210 times
Reputation: 36027
Quote:
Originally Posted by baybook
That requirement is a way to discriminate legally in some areas of the country. I worked with a job training program in CA that tried to get job experience for low income students. Most of our students were minority. Often employers would add Spanish or Tagalog as a requirement when it was not a need in the job. ie: a kid applying for a job as RiteAid as a cashier or a file clerk in a law firm or a general office work. We came to believe that these employers were trying either avoid hiring Black teens or trying to hire teens of their own racial background. This was a public program and if we found that was the case, the employer were dropped and asked to pay back the $$ the state had paid on their behalf. In 2 years I think there were 19 incidents and not 1 employer appealed our assessment.
My POV is discriminate on your own dime.
Yeah ... The job requirement to speak Spanish does discriminate for minorities who only know English. It isn't just whites that are being left out when jobs are requiring bilingual fluency in English and Spanish. I personally feel that jobs requiring Spanish is discriminatory in nature. Obviously, those jobs will more than likely be filled by latinos and present very little diversity.
Business are just adjusting to the market as any good business would do. Especially when dealing with financial matters, it is best to work in your native language no matter how fluent you might be. That is just good business sense. You don't have to learn Spanish to get a job, you just need to learn Spanish to get that job.
If US citizens are lazy if they don't work hard to learn a second language then what do you call immigrants who refuse to learn English, the language of the land? If I and other English speaking folks decided to move to Mexico (legally or illegally) and refuse to learn Spanish, are the Mexicans lazy for not learning English to cater to us?
I've lived in Mexico- many people involved with tourism and service industries either speak fluent English or at least basic English. It is profitable for them to learn to speak with the prominent tourist group (as well as all the retiree gringos who absolutely do not speak Spanish but live in Puerto Vallarta, Rosarito, etc) and they are more competitive in the job market when they learn English. Do they have to learn English? No. Is it stupid for them not to? Absolutely.
The same can be said for Europe where I was able to converse with people in Poland and Hungary in basic English, Spanish, and French which were all learned to increase their usefulness in the workplace.
Yeah ... The job requirement to speak Spanish does discriminate for minorities who only know English. It isn't just whites that are being left out when jobs are requiring bilingual fluency in English and Spanish. I personally feel that jobs requiring Spanish is discriminatory in nature. Obviously, those jobs will more than likely be filled by latinos and present very little diversity.
As I stated earlier, most of the employers I applied with over the last ten years or so would consider the knowledge of a second language to be a plus, but it has never been stated as a 'must'. Had that been a 'requirement', I wouldn't have had any of my last three jobs. (Target, CompUSA and H&R Block, in that order.) And, especially in this area, I can understand why those employers would want employees in customer service who were fluent in more than one language. Half the clients who came into the Block office where I worked were Spanish speaking. Not that they couldn't speak English, but, because English was their second language, and it was important that they understand how their taxes were filled out and why they were done that way, it only makes sense to have someone in the office who could explain it in their primary language.
That requirement is a way to discriminate legally in some areas of the country. I worked with a job training program in CA that tried to get job experience for low income students. Most of our students were minority. Often employers would add Spanish or Tagalog as a requirement when it was not a need in the job. ie: a kid applying for a job as RiteAid as a cashier or a file clerk in a law firm or a general office work. We came to believe that these employers were trying either avoid hiring Black teens or trying to hire teens of their own racial background. This was a public program and if we found that was the case, the employer were dropped and asked to pay back the $$ the state had paid on their behalf. In 2 years I think there were 19 incidents and not 1 employer appealed our assessment.
My POV is discriminate on your own dime.
I had a student, a black student, who was trying to find a job to support himself while he was in college (his home life was horrible). I ran into him on the subway. He was on the verge of tears. He had borrowed a suit from someone to apply for a maintenance job at a local Marriott, but was told in the interview that since he couldn't speak Spanish, he wasn't suitable for the position. He had applied at several different places, and most required Spanish. He said to me, "There's no way out."
Privileging one group of immigrants at the expense of America's children is immoral.
My mother and her family were immigrants. Dirt-poor. Couldn't speak a lick of English. Worked in service jobs and learned English. The same old story, actually, of most immigrants to this nation. Hispanics are the first group of immigrants who feel that they should be privileged over other immigrants. That they should not have to learn English. That they should not have to wait to enter the country legally. That they should simply be given a path to citizenship--simply because they want it. And they are doing everything in their power to emotionally blackmail Americans (that's the power of an "anchor baby" and the inevitable accusation that follows of "breaking up families"). They are the first immigrant group to this country who seems constitutionally incapable of either honesty or ethical integrity. Whose tribal mentality and racist politics are so strong that they, and their political representatives, actually threaten the American people with their growing (illegal) population in this country and their inevitable usurpation of the political process. They simply take what they want, and demand the rest. It's appalling.
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 23,023,210 times
Reputation: 36027
Quote:
Originally Posted by MsMcQ LV
As I stated earlier, most of the employers I applied with over the last ten years or so would consider the knowledge of a second language to be a plus, but it has never been stated as a 'must'. Had that been a 'requirement', I wouldn't have had any of my last three jobs. (Target, CompUSA and H&R Block, in that order.) And, especially in this area, I can understand why those employers would want employees in customer service who were fluent in more than one language. Half the clients who came into the Block office where I worked were Spanish speaking. Not that they couldn't speak English, but, because English was their second language, and it was important that they understand how their taxes were filled out and why they were done that way, it only makes sense to have someone in the office who could explain it in their primary language.
A lot of jobs in Los Angeles Metro have Spanish as a requirement which leaves many Americans out, including those who are fluent in languages other than Spanish.
yep they want you to have at least a 4 yr degree, be able to drive, good with computers, and now speak other languages and why do they keep raising the bar and lowering the pay?
bek they can. and yet americans hate unions, just hate them.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
