Catalan job market sees rise in explicit language requirements

A study conducted by Pimec and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) reveals shifting linguistic requirements in the Catalan job market. English remains the most requested language, appearing in 48.8% of job offers in 2025, though this represents a decline from 63.3% in 2019.

Spanish is required in 30.7% of vacancies, while Catalan has emerged as the third most requested language at 17.9%. This marks a significant increase from 2019, when only 0.6% of job offers explicitly required Catalan. Researchers attribute this rise to a decline in the assumed social use of the language, meaning employers now feel the need to specify it as a requirement rather than taking it for granted.

Overall, linguistic requirements in job vacancies have increased, with 42.8% of offers including language criteria compared to 30.2% in 2019. Experts suggest factors such as remote work and immigration may be influencing these trends, noting particular difficulty in finding professionals with high Catalan proficiency in sectors like education.