Despite such imbalances as pay, there is little question that the global economy demands more bilingual or multilingual workers. Elizabeth Cercado, a 23-year-old mechanical engineering student at UTEP, hopes that her bilingual experience will help her after she graduates this December. She says she does not know whether she will concentrate in design, research and development or manufacturing.
Last summer, Cercado had an internship at a diaper factory with global personal products giant Procter & Gamble. The company gets a good portion of its $76 billion in annual sales from overseas markets, so it needs to be sensitive to cultures and tailor its products accordingly. Procter & Gamble has fashioned diapers to meet the needs of babies around the world. A few years ago, for instance, it did research in the Philippines and found that its diapers were too hot for infants, so they designed a bikini-style diaper that isn’t as stuffy.
Diana Ramirez knows just how much her GM experience and her instruction at UTEP helps her as she searches the job market.
Speaking in Spanish, I can communicate with more people and if you know how to refer to the culture, even better.”
--Peter Galuszka
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