Launch of the Bilingual Workforce Recruitment Pack

On November 29th, around 100 employers and practitioners from across Wales gathered at Reichel Hall for the launch of the Bilingual Workforce Recruitment Pack, the result of work by a team from the School of History, Law, and Social Sciences at Bangor University. The project funded by the Welsh Government’s ARFOR Challenge Fund aims to help employers find solutions to challenges related to recruiting Welsh speakers, thereby enabling more young adults who wish to remain in their local communities to do so.

“Our research found that many employers in the west of Wales struggle to recruit staff who can work in both English and Welsh, even though these communities have a high density of Welsh speakers. We interviewed 40 employers to learn about their experiences in recruiting staff who can speak Welsh. We were particularly interested in learning from employers what good practices they had adopted to recruit more effectively” said Elen Bonner, who worked as a researcher on the project.

The launch event was opened by the Deputy Welsh Language Commissioner, Osian Llywelyn, and featured lively discussion panels with young adults, employers, and academics from Bangor University and the Basque Country. “It was wonderful to be able to welcome colleagues from the Basque country to the event and to learn about the work done at EMUE and the Mondragon University” said Dr Rhian Hodges.

“It was fantastic to see so many people at the event, reflecting the level of interest in this work and the significant challenge of recruiting a bilingual workforce for many employers. It was also inspiring to hear the experiences of various panellists. On behalf of the team, I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to this project and attended the launch. We hope this pack will be a useful tool for employers as they seek to recruit Welsh-speaking staff,” said Dr Cynog Prys, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy, at Bangor University, and project lead.

The resources from this event can be accessed via the links below and may be of interest to other minoritized language communities.

Bilingual Workforce Recruitment Pack (Welsh)

Bilingual Workforce Recruitment Pack (English)