Demand for Bilingual Skills

Demand for Bilingual Skills Across Indiana

Introduction

Stronger global economic and cultural ties have increased the importance of second-language skills in the Indiana job market, giving bilingual candidates a competitive edge in hiring and career advancement. Our team investigated the market for bilingual candidates across seven key industries in Indiana: customer service, human resources, energy, logistics and transportation, manufacturing, healthcare, and legal. Job postings were sourced from Indeed and LinkedIn between February and March 2026.

Part 1: Examining the Demand for Bilingual Skills Across Indiana Job Listings

Methodology

First, our team selected seven industries with a significant presence in the Indiana job market, representing a wide range of economic activity and education levels. We analyzed the prevalence of bilingual preferences or requirements in Indiana job postings, focusing on in-person and remote roles requiring at least a high school diploma. We used field-specific keywords in the search box to elicit relevant results. For example, the legal field included keywords such as “legal position,” “lawyer,” “law firm,” and “paralegal,” while the energy sector included “nuclear,” “solar,” and “wind”.. Lastly, we coded these job postings based on location and whether the posting stated a requirement or preference for candidates who speak more than one language. The maximum sample size per sector was 100 postings, though some sectors did not reach this number due to a lack of postings that met the timeframe and keyword criteria. From there, we calculated the prevalence of preferences and requirements for multilingual skillsets within each sector.

 Findings

According to the first dataset, language preferences and requirements were relatively uncommon across all seven fields. Job postings in Customer Service and Human Resources mentioned bilingualism most frequently, perhaps due to the highly interpersonal nature of these jobs. However, the other five fields had a low prevalence of jobs that preferred or required second-language skills.

• In the customer service field, 19 of 100 postings (19%) required or preferred bilingual candidates.
• In the human resources field, 15 of 100 postings (15%) required or preferred bilingual candidates.
• In the energy field, 7 of 79 postings (8.8%) required or preferred bilingual candidates.
• In the manufacturing field, 6 of 100 postings (6%) required or preferred bilingual candidates.
• In the logistics and transportation field, 3 of 50 postings (6%) required or preferred bilingual candidates.
• In the healthcare field, 2 of 70 postings (2.8%) required or preferred bilingual candidates.
• In the legal field, 2 of 81 postings (2.5%) required or preferred bilingual candidates.

Part 2: Analyzing Preferred Languages in Indiana Job Listings

Methodology

Building on the first section, the following section focuses on Indiana-based job postings that state a preference or requirement for a specific language (i.e., Spanish, Mandarin, etc.) across seven key industries, including in-person and remote roles. Our main goal was to understand which languages were common within Indiana-based jobs that prefer or require bilingual skills. Postings were sourced from Indeed and LinkedIn between February and March 2026. Some postings overlapped with the first section, but many included in this dataset are new. Overall, 145 job postings were collected across the seven fields, but the number of postings with language preferences or requirements varied for each sector. Additionally, we coded education level, including jobs that only required a high school diploma, jobs that preferred a college degree, and jobs that required a college degree.

Findings

According to the second dataset, Spanish was the most commonly sought-after language among the job postings we collected, but a handful of other languages were also mentioned.

• In the human resources field, 43 of 50 postings (86%) mentioned Spanish.
• In the customer service field, 10 of 20 postings (50%) mentioned Spanish, and one (5%) mentioned Japanese.
• In the energy field, seven of seven postings (100%) mentioned Mandarin.
• In the manufacturing field, five of seven postings (71.4%) mentioned Spanish. The other two (28.6%) mentioned Mandarin.
• In the logistics and transportation field, 12 of 14 postings (85.7%) mentioned Spanish, and one (7.1%) mentioned Korean.
• In the healthcare field, 10 of 25 postings (40%) mentioned Spanish, and one (4%) mentioned Haitian Creole.
• In the legal field, 16 of 23 postings (69.6%) mentioned Spanish. Burmese was mentioned twice (8.7%), and Korean, French, Arabic, ASL, and Somali were mentioned once (4.3%).

Challenges and Limitations

One of the main challenges we encountered in our research was the difficulty of identifying bilingual requirements in job postings, as employers described language skills in inconsistent and varied ways. Job descriptions were often vague, making it difficult to fully understand what role multilingualism plays in the hiring process. Additionally, our research focused specifically on jobs that explicitly mentioned bilingualism. However, it is likely that bilingualism is an asset in many more jobs, despite bilingualism not being mentioned directly. To look beyond job postings, we created a short employer survey regarding the role of bilingualism in Indiana. While some respondents did indicate that second languages were beneficial in the job market, the response rate was extremely low. Of the 49 surveys sent out, there were only four responses. The respondents had different perspectives on the importance of bilingualism in the job market, but three of the four respondents agreed that bilingualism was an asset.

 Additionally, we initially included the Technology and Pharmaceutical Devices sectors when selecting fields to analyze, due to their prominence in the Indiana job market. However, we found an insufficient quantity of relevant job postings to meet the criteria we set for our search. As a result, it was difficult to provide any meaningful analysis, so we pivoted towards the Logistics/Transportation and Customer Service fields.

Conclusion

Overall, our findings highlight that bilingualism is an asset for job seekers. Demand is higher in fields like Human Resources and Customer Service, where communication is central, but bilingualism still provides advantages in other fields, as communication is a widely valued skill. Additionally, Spanish was clearly the most sought-after language in our sample, highlighting the importance of communicating with Indiana’s Spanish-speaking population. However, languages such as Mandarin were also commonly preferred in other fields, such as energy and manufacturing. Overall, bilingualism is a valuable skill for Indiana workers that will continue to grow in importance as Indiana’s economy grows more global.

Report and recommendations compiled by students in the Indiana University Hamilton Lugar School Global Development Consulting program in Spring 2026. Global Development Consultants is led by Dr. Elisheva Cohen at the Hamilton Lugar School. Student participants and roles:

• Jocelyn Poirier
• Delaney Russell
• Elena Laguna
• Mia Phillips
• Blake Hansen
• Richard Zhang
• Ayanna Arora