The number of companies hiring multilingual professionals has increased in the UK, according to the latest ‘European Hiring Trends Report’ from specialist recruiter Euro London Appointments.

Despite seeing a rise of 50% compared to last year, employers are often finding it hard to secure those people with the right combination of experience and languages says the company, which has offices across the UK, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Companies need to become more flexible if they want the best talent, Euro London advises.

Steve Shacklock, managing director of Euro London, adds: “It also seems that the euro/sterling exchange rate is no longer attracting many foreign nationals to seek employment here in the UK.

“Despite this, lengthy hiring processes remain common, and businesses spending too long making decisions often leads to the best people being snapped up by other companies. As the market becomes more candidate-led, in 2010 we have seen more job offers declined than in the past four years.”

With regards to hiring activity, the report found a 30% upturn in banking and financial services vacancies requiring languages from 2009.

Social media was found to be driving an increase in roles within sales and marketing and as a result of increased business activity across a range of sectors, the number of office support vacancies has also risen by 12% compared to last year.

In the North-West, manufacturing and shared services are both boasting high levels of language recruitment. There are also a number of medium-sized businesses providing market research, telemarketing and general outsourcing services with an increasingly European outlook.