Train or Hire Spanish Speakers: Best Workforce Strategy

By Joaquín Calvo

Reading time: 0 minute

November 07, 2025

Contents

Introduction

Why Spanish Matters at Work

Train vs Hire: What’s the Best Choice?

How to Start a Spanish Training Program

Should You Still Hire Bilingual Staff?

Pros and Cons: Training vs. Hiring

Smart Companies Combine Both

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Talent Development Is a Long-Term Strategy

In Conclusion: Train or Hire?

Introduction

In today’s business world, speaking more than one language is very important. Spanish is very useful. It is the second most spoken language in the world.

There are over 460 million native speakers. Many businesses want employees who speak Spanish. This helps them talk to clients, work with teams around the world, and grow into new markets.

But companies face a big question: Should they train existing employees or hire bilingual staff?

This blog will show you when to train or hire bilingual employees. It will help you close the skill gap. You'll also learn the best ways to add Spanish skills to your team smartly.

Why Spanish Matters at Work

The Hispanic population has a purchasing power of over $1.5 trillion in the U.S. alone. This means that businesses can make more sales and build stronger customer relationships if they speak Spanish.

Spanish-speaking employees also bring a new cultural view, which helps teams be more creative and inclusive. Whether you choose to upskill employees in Spanish or hire new ones, adding Spanish helps your company grow.

Train vs Hire: What’s the Best Choice?

Both training current employees and hiring bilingual staff have pros and cons. Let’s break it down:

Training Your Current Team (Internal Training)

Cost-effective: Teaching your team is usually cheaper than hiring new people.
Talent development: Employees feel supported when you invest in their growth.
Stronger loyalty: Staff who learn new skills often stay longer with the company.
Easier onboarding: No need to train new hires on company culture, they already know it.

Hiring Bilingual Employees (Recruitment)

Faster results: New hires already speak Spanish.
Skill-ready: No need to wait for training to finish.
Recruitment strategy boost: Helps bring in fresh talent with bilingual abilities.

Hiring can be costly and time-consuming. It also may not solve deeper communication problems in your current team.

So, when comparing internal training vs recruitment, training is often the smarter and more long-term move.

How to Start a Spanish Training Program

If you choose to train employees instead of hiring, follow these steps:

1. Assess Skills and Needs

Start with a skills assessment. This will show where there are language gaps and who is interested in learning Spanish.

Ask:

Which teams work with Spanish-speaking customers?
Who wants to improve their career with language skills?
Are we losing business because of language barriers?

Focus on roles like:

Customer service
Sales
Team leads or managers

These roles benefit most from Spanish training.

2. Get Buy-In from Employees

People are more likely to join training if they see its value. Show how Spanish can:

Help them grow their careers
Lead to promotions
Increase their confidence at work

Also, share success stories from other employees who became bilingual and improved their performance.

A culture of learning helps everyone grow.

3. Choose the Right Program

You can:

Offer online lessons
Use apps like Duolingo or Babbel
Bring in a Spanish tutor
Start group classes during lunch breaks

Make sure the program fits your company. For example:

A call center might need a focus on speaking and listening.
A sales team might learn business terms in Spanish.

This custom training will be more effective.

4. Track Progress

To see if the training is working, set goals. This is how you measure your ROI (Return on Investment).

Goals could include:

Employees pass a Spanish test
Teams handle more Spanish-speaking clients
Employee retention improves
Customer satisfaction increases

Use surveys and performance data to keep track.

5. Encourage Practice

Learning a language takes time. Give employees space to practice.

Ideas:

“Spanish Only” lunch days
Team challenges or games
Pair employees to practice together

The more practice, the faster the results.

Should You Still Hire Bilingual Staff?

Yes, but with a plan. Sometimes, hiring is the best move, especially when:

You need someone who speaks fluent Spanish right away
The role is customer-facing and requires advanced language skills
The team has no one bilingual yet

A balanced recruitment strategy works best. You can hire bilingual staff while still training others. This creates a strong, blended bilingual workforce.

Pros and Cons: Training vs. Hiring

Training current employees and hiring bilingual staff both have advantages and challenges. Here's how they compare:

Cost: Training your team is usually more cost-effective. It’s a long-term investment. Hiring new bilingual staff, especially for skilled positions, can be more expensive.
Time to See Results: Training takes time. Employees need weeks or months to build strong Spanish skills. Hiring someone who already speaks Spanish gives faster results because they’re ready to go right away.
Cultural Fit: Existing employees already understand your company’s values, goals, and ways of working. New hires may need time to learn and adjust to your company culture.
Loyalty: When you invest in your team’s growth through training, they often feel more valued and stay longer. New hires might not feel as connected and can be harder to keep for the long term.
Scalability: Training allows you to build skills across the team gradually. Hiring can help quickly fill gaps but might take longer if you're trying to grow a whole team fast.

Smart Companies Combine Both

Many businesses are using both methods. They train existing employees to grow internally and hire bilingual staff to bring in outside skills.

This dual strategy:

Closes the skill gap
Creates a diverse and inclusive team
Builds a long-term plan for adding Spanish skills to the workforce

Common Mistakes to Avoid

When you're trying to add Spanish skills to your team, it's easy to make small mistakes that lead to big problems later. Avoiding these early on can save your company time, money, and frustration.

1. Starting Without Clear Goals

One of the biggest mistakes is not setting goals. Before launching a Spanish training program or hiring new bilingual staff, know exactly what you want to achieve.

2. Skipping Skill Assessments

Another common mistake is skipping the step of checking your employees’ current language skills. You need to know who already has some Spanish knowledge and who is starting from zero.

3. Lack of Leadership Support

If your company’s leadership doesn’t support the program, it’s unlikely to succeed. When managers and team leads show they care about the training, employees are more likely to participate.

4. Using a One-Size-Fits-All Approach

Not all departments need the same type of training. For example, customer service teams may need to practice speaking and listening. Office teams might only need to read and understand emails in Spanish.

Talent Development Is a Long-Term Strategy

Training staff helps with more than just language. It boosts overall talent development. When employees learn new skills, they feel valued and stay longer.

This helps:

Reduce turnover
Improve workplace satisfaction
Build a culture of growth and learning

This kind of development strategy is better than just hiring and replacing workers all the time.

In Conclusion: Train or Hire?

If you’re asking, “Should I train existing employees or hire bilingual staff?”, the answer is often both.

Train your current team to build long-term skills.
Hire new bilingual talent when fast results are needed.
Create a plan that fits your budget, goals, and workforce.

This approach will help your company:

Grow faster
Build a stronger bilingual workforce
Break through language barriers
Prepare for future challenges

Start planning your strategy today. Whether you choose offering Spanish classes at work or hiring new talent, make sure you're adding Spanish skills to your workforce the smart way. By setting clear goals and measuring success, you can ensure your investment pays off.

Joaquín Calvo

Management Team

Joaquín Calvo is the Executive Vice President at Comligo, leading corporate strategy initiatives. With a PhD in Finance, he has extensive experience in building online learning companies and has worked as a Strategy Advisor for top-tier multinational organizations. He has also lectured at universities across Europe and Asia.