New research has found that UK graduates should learn a foreign language if they want to get ahead in the workplace, reports computerweekly.com.
The data, collected by communications provider Telefonica Digital, said that the skill is particularly essential for those hoping to work for digital employers.
According to the study, which questioned 1,000 university leavers, 70 per cent of graduates cannot speak any other language apart from English fluently.
It also found that 14 per cent of UK graduates had lost out on a job opportunity because they couldn't speak another language, which cannot be helpful to job seekers when navigating through the uncertainty of tough economic times.
Talking about the situation, Geraldine Morel, global senior talent consultant at Telefonica Digital, said that companies were turning abroad as young people in the UK don't have the skills that are required.
She told hrmagazine.co.uk: "Employers are definitely looking abroad, so young people must now be more open to what is happening."
Ms Morel also encouraged young people in the UK to travel and to particularly focus on Brazil, which she claims is one of the biggest growing markets.
It was reported last month by wsandb.co.uk that almost a third of employers think young people in the UK lack insight in to the working world.