RELATED May 31, 2023 The State of Public Trust in Government 2023 May 17, 2023 The Good Government Connection: Linking the Employee and Customer Experiences April 25, 2023 Effective presidential transitions can earn the public’s trust Back to Reports Foreign Language Skills May 1, 2006 The U.S. government has a shortage of employees with foreign language skills that are critical to the ability to operate effectively in a global environment. Unfortunately, the shortages of skilled language personnel across these agencies are complicating government efforts in trade, peacekeeping, diplomacy, security and intelligence. These shortages stem from four major obstacles: limited talent pool, shortage of teachers of critical languages, security clearance requirements and procedures, and training. Priority should also be given to developing a government-wide assessment of needed language skills. Download (1m)