'For enhancing productivity, English is often a very common denominator'
One way that Southeast Asian (SEA) employers can boost their global competitiveness is by enhancing their workers’ English language skills, according to an expert.
“For enhancing productivity and all, English is often a very common denominator in trade, digital services and multinational collaboration,” says Pushkar Saran, executive director of ETS for institutional programs in SEA.
He cites the global rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies as an example of why English is increasingly necessary.
“With the use of this agentic AI, when a lot of these nuances are getting built, a person needs to understand English to even use the AI, all these new tools and everything.”
More than half of business leaders in Singapore are already using AI agents to boost productivity amid a capacity gap in the workforce, according to a previous report from Microsoft.
While English proficiency is essential for cross-border transactions, Saran notes that it also plays a critical role in domestic interactions—particularly in multilingual societies.
For example, “in India, the north and south are connected because of the English language, because the language of North and language of South is very different,” he says.
Saran believes that English is “a language of opportunity,” and companies that fail to enhance workers’ proficiency in this language have so much to lose.
“This is where innovation is shared, deals are made, and talent is mobilized.”
Many workers in the world are hoping to improve their English language skills, according to a previous report from Udemy.
Currently, there is a “fairly high” level of English proficiency in the Philippines, notes Saran.
He calls the country the “father” of Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) sector.
“Most of the outsourcing is happening there. And when the outsourcing is happening, then—for the workers who have to work in these global corporate back offices—they have to show a certification of their proficiency in English.”
“They cannot hit the floor running” until they are able to show that they have enough grasp of the English language to do the job, he says.
Elsewhere in the region, however, the story is different.
“In some of the countries, you cannot even board a cab and talk to the cab driver about the language or the fare or the time you will take to reach [your destination]. That's the kind of English challenges that are there in other countries,” he says.
Saran notes that governments in countries facing language barriers are already implementing policies to improve English proficiency.
In Vietnam, for example, “there is a very, very strong emphasis on teaching English as part of the curriculum, as the second or third language,” he says.
He also highlights local enthusiasm for skill development, citing ETS’s TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) challenge.
“In 17 cities, we run this challenge, and there's a huge craze for people to showcase—right from childhood—their essential English speaking, writing, listening and reading skills.”
Meanwhile, in Thailand, university applicants must meet English proficiency requirements prior to admission, with further assessments required before graduation.
Saran urges employers to invest in English language training with the same seriousness as other workplace capabilities.
“Communication, critical thinking and adaptability are what differentiate the successful workers.”
And the English language training that employers provide must be “internationally recognised,” he says.
“What happens is that there are these local versions of assessments which exist, but they are not internationally benchmarked. So even if you are assessing them in your local way, you are not really sure that, on a CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) scale, how [valuable] this is” and how it is compared with the English language assessment tests used by other international mobile workforce.
Recently, ETS launched TOEIC Link—a modular, AI-powered version of its traditional TOEIC test.
“Each section—listening, reading, speaking, writing—can now be completed in 15 minutes… no need for a live proctor,” said Saran. “AI checks everything from facial expressions to background noise to prevent cheating… and results are delivered instantly for most modules.”
