English communication skills play a fundamental role in workplace situations. It is significant in the management sector, especially as stated in different job advertisements. English is often a key factor in employment perspective with greater remunerations and in organizations aiming at higher output. Employees would never achieve success without good English communication skills. It is also part of job promotion criteria in different organizations where most conversations have been made in written form with colleagues, the management or even with customers, in case of customer service jobs.

There are 350-400 million native speakers of English around the world. The English language is the supreme frequently verbal language in the world. It is in the list of full controlling languages of the world, which has an impact on every field. It is a greater role in the world that is unavoidable for people to ignore. Hollywood is the heart of international amusement, so English becomes the chief language for making movies. English is also easy to speak and write as its vocabulary is simple to grasp. In the English language, we can say the same thing in many ways, so there is flexibility in the English language also. English is enormously significant as a global language and shows a vivacious part even in states where the United Kingdom has traditionally consumed little influence. English is also the language of freelancers as the conversation with clients on international forms is also done in English.

Devi (2016) is of the view that the impact of the English language is acknowledged in obtaining jobs around the globe. Dustmann and Fabbr (2003) showed that strong communication skills in the workplace are essential for a competitive job market. Under this, the English language as communication skills plays an essential role in jobs, increasingly under globalization.

English and Urdu languages have official languages status in Pakistan; widely used in executive, military, and in legislative spheres. It is the language of business contracts, signs of shops, and many street signs. Pakistan laws are also written in English. In Pakistan, most of the verbal communications are in Urdu, and written communication is in English. English is also a language of press and media, and most of the famous international newspapers are also published in English. English is also considered a symbol of high society in Pakistan. The English language significance for graduates, particularly searching and grasping the job, does not need exaggeration. The English language is almost part of every job screening test in Pakistan. It is the medium of communication for almost all organizations to official and organizational communication. In Pakistan, graduates are essential to have comprehension English language skills to write for a job or to publish their reports, etc. Urdu or other regional languages are used only for verbal communication. English language Competency is the most basic pre-requisites for a job offer by any multinational company. Graduates have to pass Basic English written screening tests for the jobs, and sometimes after passing the written/screening tests, English language proficiency is also evaluated during interviews according to the nature of work of a particular post.

According to Devi (2016), graduates face difficulties in finding a suitable job in the market as they lack in comprehension language skills. Existing research showed the significance of English language skills at the workplace and individual career mobility. Still, there was no academic research to see the sights of the importance of English language skills regarding employment in the Pakistani context where more than half of the population has below the age of 29, and however, there are amazingly high unemployment rates among young people educated above the matriculation level. Therefore, this study is needed time to reveal the effect of language skills on Pakistan's career opportunities, where English is employed as an official language along with Urdu.

Current study results can help us to know the worth of English language skills for successful career mobility and can be great exposure to unemployed persons to know the worth of English language proficiency for finding jobs. It can be how much English language proficiency is necessary for getting jobs, and it can also be effective for employed persons also at the workplace for career development. Null hypothesis was also developed that there is no significant difference between males and females in scores on the impact of the English language on career opportunities concerning gender.

This section will discuss the previous research about the English language's impacts on career opportunities from existing literature.

Lauring and Selmer (2011) argued that language is a major source of conversation for exchanging information, and multicultural companies are also supposed to have the ability to improve efficiency with potential knowledge. Feely and Harzing (2003) found that a common business language's key purpose is to pass information effectively inside the organization for formal reporting, cross-national interaction, and information systems. The researcher has worked in Jazz for different positions for five years, and he closely observed and experienced that English communication skills are important for employees within the organization or with customers for better results. The researcher also revealed that there were more than 900 employees and managerial staff at the call center office where the importance of English language skills couldn't be denied, especially in the Investigation and Resolution Unit (IRU) department where employees had interacted with the customer directly through online chat for their queries. Communications between team members and with team leaders were also in English on a daily basis. Sometimes call center representatives were supposed to receive a call on Jazz 111 helpline from such customers who started talking in English, so they had to respond to them in English for better customer service.

Shields and Price (2002) found that success and occupational advantages are relatively dependent on fluency in the English language. Muukari (2008) and Borenius (2009) revealed that language comprehension skills could offer work opportunities outside the employee’s common scope of responsibilities, influencing the individual’s perception of their career success and providing further possibilities of promotion recognition. According to Giri (2014), people who know English are more showing, more informative, and thus more confident in their lives than those who are not. Clement and Murugavel (2015) showed that applicants are supposed to voice their suggestions in English without any fear and ambiguity. 

Schellekens (2001) noted that shortcomings in English comprehension skills become problematic for applicants around the world. According to the researcher's professional experience, the English language portion is used as a necessary part of job screening tests or even in interviews also for specific cases as English is used as an official language in our country. Research revealed that he enjoyed his language skills on many occasions, and he shared his best interview experience, which was held on September 22, 2018, and it was probably right after the next day of Ashura. The interview was for a clerical job in Federal Government Educational Institutions (FGEI) Cantts and Garrisons Schools Rawalpindi. He further revealed that on the day of the interview, there were seven candidates who called for an interview against one post. The researcher had randomly prepared well for the English portion due to several written job tests in various departments. He exposed that first of all, a member from the interview panel came and said: “suppose you are working as a clerk in FGEI schools for a long time, so by assuming this statement you have to write a letter in English to your headmaster for your job promotion in the allocated time of ten minutes”. Researcher topped in job written/screening test. Therefore, he has to appear prior to all candidates and has no idea about the interview's question, and there were three members in the panel, and after the introduction, they started to test his English language skills through sentence structure, and they put numerous questions about sentence rules and translation from Urdu to English. It was easy for the researcher due to his command on sentences. The researcher also revealed that he is the only; one who acknowledged for an appointment letter just because of proficiency in the English language. It was one of his best interview experiences due to his proficiency in English language skills.

Maclean (2006) argued that the impact of language in administrations has frequently remained ignored and understood as a just technical or functioning matter. A reasonable occupation marketplace needs worthy language skills in the workplace, so English as language skills play a fundamental impact in the workplace thus, English is frequently a basic feature in employment prospects with greater compensations and in organizations aiming at higher output. Ylinen (2010) found that approved language strategy for a corporation is an irregular prospect in Finnish international companies. However, workers who are working in multi-lingual companies are using their language skills for the betterment of the company by using their own skills. Researcher have also seven-year professional experience in government and private sector and he found many employees facing difficulties in business communication skills like drafting, emailing, and responding to emails, while lodging complaints, etc. This research can be effective for fresh graduates and also for already working employees in various organizations.

This study was aimed to examine the impact of English language skills on career opportunities in the private sector of Pakistan as an individual’s perspective. Quantitative research approach was applied to obtain responses of the respondents as it is more objective, scientific, and focused. It is also easier to conduct surveys than series of interviews. The questionnaire was divided into three parts. The first part comprises the most of the items (21) to examine the impact of English language skills. The second part of the questionnaire comprises two items whether English language skills becomes the reason for obtaining/firing from a job. The third part of the questionnaire comprises three items regarding rank your language skills.  In Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to obtain respondents’ responses.

Null hypothesis was also developed that there is no significant difference among males and females in scores on the impact of English language on career opportunities in the private sector of Pakistan. The population of the study comprised of 2300 Jazz employees. The data was collected through a convenience sampling technique due to COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, a sample size of the population was 111 Jazz employees, consisting of both male and female employees. The survey forms were circulated through Google form, and the participants’ responses were collected online on point Likert scale questionnaire. A pilot study was also conducted on 15 employees of Telenor Company to check the reliability of the questionnaire through Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) which is .910.

Table 1. Showed the Gender Wise Frequency of Respondents of the Study

Table 2. Showed the respondents perceptions about the impact of English language skills on career opportunities.

Descriptive statistics of the variable of the impact of the English language on career opportunities demonstrated. Calculation of mean scores and standard deviations were made for the participants’ responses. Four-point Likert scale questionnaire cut-off point was 2.5. The mean scores of all items were above 2.5, which revealed the employees’ covenant to the English language impact on career opportunities in Pakistan. By examining deeply, it is noticed that item no. 5 was the highest mean item with a mean score of 3.38 among all of the other stated items in the questionnaire. Item no.9 was the second-highest mean item with a mean score of 3.31, where 92% of employees agreed to the statement which revealed the role of the English language in numerous companies worldwide. Item no.4 was the third-highest mean score with a mean score of 3.27, where 93% of employees agreed to the statement which proved that the English language skills make an impact at the time of written tests. Item no.1 “English language skills are mandatory for finding a suitable job in the market" was the fourth-highest mean score item with mean score of 3.26. Item no. 2 “English language skills break the barriers for job seekers to find jobs”, item no. 3 “English language skills help to make an individual’s merit at the time of job written/screening tests”, item no. 6 “English proficiency makes you top in the list among other candidates”, item no. 8 “Command on English language skills is necessary to understand the job-related advertisements”, and all other items revealed that English language skills are mandatory for getting job and it is also necessary for career growth for employed individuals.  

The items having the lowest mean score were item no. 7 “Interviewers can shortlist candidates based on English communication skills”, and item no. 19 “English language skills are commonly used in the workplace” with mean scores of 2.82 and a standard deviation of .690. These items were the lowest mean score and still well above than cut-off point 2.5, which exposed the employees' agreement to the statement of the impact of English language on career opportunities in Pakistan. It is also a noticeable thing that all means of all items of this study were well above the cut-off point 2.5 which revealed the employees' agreement towards the impact of English language skills on career opportunities in the private sector of Pakistan.

Table 3. Showed the comparison in scores for male and females on the impact of English language on career opportunities

An independent sample t-test was conducted to compare the part of attitude scores for males and females headed for the impact of the English language on career opportunities in Pakistan. There was no significant difference in scores for males (M=3.0390, SD=.37731) and females [M=3.0800, SD=.39566); t(109)=-.557, p=.579]. The magnitude of the differences in the means was very small (eta squared=-.0409680).         

Table 4. Showed the respondents’ perceptions regarding English language skills whether these become the reason for hiring/ firing.

Above table, S#1 indicates that the English language skills become the reason for obtaining a job as most employees responded in favor of English language skills for obtaining a job. 51% of employees responded that English language skills often become the reason for obtaining a job, and 24% responded as it always becomes the reason for obtaining a job. 20% of employees responded as sometimes, only 4% as rarely, and 1% of employees responded as never to the statement of English language skills become the reason for obtaining a job. S#2 reveals that 40% of employees responded that sometimes poor English language skills become the reason for firing from the job in the private sector where the English language has a core role. 12% of employees responded as often, and 8% responded as it always becomes the reason for firing from a job. 31% of employees responded as rarely, and 9% of employees responded as never to the statement that poor English language skills become the reason for firing from a job.

Table 5. Showed the ranking of your language skills (speaking, listening, writing, and reading) at the time of the job interview/job duties/job written tests.

As shown in the above table, S#1 shows when asked about the order of the importance of language skills at the time of job interview. 83% of respondents chose speaking skills, 55% of respondents chose listening, and 12% was chose writing skills. Only 6% was chosen reading skills at the time of the job interview. So, these calculations show that English speaking skills are the most important skills at the time of job interview. S#2 shows when asked about the order of the importance of language skills during job duties. 85% of respondents have selected speaking skills, 61% of respondents have chosen listening, 52% have chosen writing, and only 40% have chosen reading skills at the time of job duties. This revealed that English speaking skills are the most important skills during job duties. S#3 shows when asked about the order of the importance of language skills during job written tests. 73% of respondents selected reading skills, 45% chose writing, 9% chose listening, and only 5% chose speaking skills during written tests. This revealed that reading skills are the most important skills during job written tests.

Based on the findings of the study, it is revealed that English language proficiency has a significant impact on career opportunities and career mobility in Pakistan's private sector. English language skills are mandatory to find a suitable job in the market. Proficiency in English cannot be denied during job-related interviews and written tests. Competency in the English language is necessary for career mobility. It is also revealed that null hypothesis was accepted. There are no significant differences in males and females scores headed on the impact of the English language on career opportunities in the private sector of Pakistan. Results also showed that English language speaking skills are the most significant skills at the time of job interviews and during job duties, and reading skills at the time of written tests for a job.

A study based on factor analysis of English language skills separately is recommended to conduct on a larger scale to know about the impact of the English language on career opportunities in various companies. It is also recommended to conduct a study in the same context within government and private sectors to compare the results. English linguistics courses should be part of the curriculum with modern language learning approaches and methods to get a fair chance to be proficient in English language and to get employed comfortably.