Livemocha - The Olympics is putting London to work

Contributing writer Daniel Owen is in the midst of the 2012 London Olympics and has a unique perspective on how the mother of all cultural events has impacted the job market in the area.

by Daniel Owen

The 2012 Olympics presents one of the largest gatherings of different nationalities and cultures that the world has ever seen, the diverse mix of people in London itself will see a wide range of languages from around the world spoken.

7 Years after winning the bid, London is hosting the greatest show on earth; The Olympics. The city is playing host to 10,500 athletes from 204 nations competing in 26 sports and 302 events. The sheer number of athletes, officials, media executives and tourists has required a big investment in London’s Infrastructure and transport links over the last 7 years as well as the recruitment of 1000’s of staff to help with the running of the games.

The Olympics are already thought to have created around 30,000 jobs in the UK. From architects to construction workers, administrators to train drivers for London’s upgraded transport network, the Assembly of the Olympics infrastructure has heavily supported the UK’s construction sector during turbulent times, as well as helping train younger generations through apprenticeships and training schemes.

The ‘legacy’ of the games, as various British politicians like to call it, will also help job creation with conversion and maintenance of the venues due to take place after the games have finished.

Staffing at the Olympics has had it’s problems, G4S, the British registered multinational security firm and the worlds 3^rd largest employer (behind Wal-Mart and FoxConn), failed to meet it’s commitments in providing an adequate amount of security guards for the Olympic venues leaving the British army to fill the gap with 3,500 troops.

70,000 volunteers have also been recruited for the games with a mix of diverse backgrounds, cultures and experiences, to act as ambassadors for the games or as officials like to call them, ‘Game Makers’. The use of unpaid volunteers has not been without its critics, but Game Makers insist that this is a once in a life time opportunity to interact and meet with people from all corners of the globe. This is an ethos not lost here at Euro London, where one of our London based consultants is using their holiday time volunteering for two weeks at the games.

Private sector companies are also helping the multitude of nationalities that will be in London through different schemes including the placement of signs and leaflets in different languages. One major UK sandwich chain is giving their front of shop employee’s badges to wear saying which languages they speak, giving their customers the chance to speak in their native language, which may be easier.

Daniel Owen – Recruitment Consultant for Euro London Appointments, Multilingual Recruitment Specialists. Daniel has written for us three times before (links below) and has a unique perspective to offer our readers in regard to what employers are looking for when it comes to bi- or multilingualism in the workplace and in the job market.