A study in collaboration with UGT on the use of the language indicates that 85% of the union delegates use Catalan at work
The University of Barcelona has carried out a study that analyses the use of languages and language needs in various workplaces in Catalonia. The project, carried out in collaboration with UGT of Catalonia, provides a starting point for reflection on possible actions to be implemented within companies to promote the use of Catalan, but also to reduce possible inequalities related to language skills.
Antonio Di Paolo, Vice-Dean for Research and Doctoral Studies at the UB’s Faculty of Economics and Business and associate professor at the Department of Econometrics, Statistics and Applied Economics, leads the report, together with Amado Alarcón, professor of Sociology at Universitat Rovira i Virgili. The research has been supported by the Bosch i Gimpera Foundation, the UB’s knowledge transfer office.
The study provides a detailed snapshot of the sociolinguistic dynamics in Catalan workplaces and serves as a basis for future policies to improve their linguistic integration in the workplace. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed in 2023, collecting data from 935 UGT delegates from various sectors and regions of Catalonia, including the metropolitan area of Barcelona, the counties of Girona, Lleida and Tarragona, and central Catalonia, among others.
Among the most noteworthy results, the data reveal that 85% of the UGT union representatives who responded to the survey use Catalan in the workplace. However, there are significant territorial and sectoral variations. For example, the Catalan language predominates in regions such as Terres de l’Ebre or the counties of Girona, while Spanish is more frequent in areas with a high concentration of historical migration such as Baix Llobregat and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.
According to Di Paolo, the evidence presented in this study “complements the existing statistics on language use and knowledge in the workplace and confirms that Catalan is quite present in the productive fabric of Catalonia”.
Use and relevance of languages in the workplace
The union delegates who responded to the survey consider that workers in the workplaces use Catalan as a language of communication at work with a high frequency, which increases in companies belonging to the UGT Public Services Federation and in certain territorial unions, such as Terres de Lleida and Terres de l’Ebre. However, the use of Spanish or combinations of Spanish and Catalan is more prevalent in other federations and geographical areas.
The report also highlights that there is a perception that in 41.6% of cases, the most relevant language in the workplace is Spanish, while 35% of those surveyed consider Catalan to be the most relevant language. However, regarding the perception of the relevance of languages, there are significant sectoral and territorial differences.
Di Paolo points out that “the evidence on the perception of UGT shop stewards regarding the use and relevance of languages in the workplace points to the bilingual nature of the labour market in Catalonia, but also confirms the need to adopt a territorial and sectoral perspective when analysing its linguistic dynamics”.
Interest in improving competences in Catalan
The questionnaire also asked about employees’ perceptions of the need to improve their Catalan language skills at their workplace, as well as the type of training they think they would prefer.
The data obtained show that workers’ need for training in Catalan is fairly widespread, and that there is a high tendency to prefer language training to be carried out during working hours, regardless of whether it takes the form of online or face-to-face training. This is observed both in the three federations — the Federation of Industry, Construction and Agri-Food; the Federation of Services, Mobility and Consumer Affairs; and the Federation of Public Services — and in all the territorial areas analysed.
