A recent survey of U.S. hiring managers and human resource professionals suggests that Spanish-speaking job candidates will be in especially high demand by employers within the next year.

The online survey was conducted by an online job search site for the Hispanic community. It found that 48% of hiring managers are hiring Spanish-speaking job candidates in 2007 and 2008.

When asked which segment of diverse workers they will be looking to hire, a good number say they plan to target Hispanic workers more aggressively in 2007 and 2008.

According to the New York-based search firm Spanusa, financial institutions, private banks that have a presence in Latin America, the insurance industry, and every company that is in consumer products is interested in Spanish-speaking professionals.

Across many industries and locations, bilingual job fairs are being used to reach out to candidates.

The National Society for Hispanic Professionals is hosting a diversity job fair in San Diego on October 18, while CareerJournal.com is holding an executive diversity career fair October 23 in Alexandria, Virginia. Confirmed employers at the NSHP event include UCSD Medical Center, Cisco Systems, US Customs and Border Protection, Citigroup, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, Aetna, BP - ARCO, eBay Inc and Farmers Insurance, just to mention a few.

Sponsored by UBS, participating companies at the CareerJournal event include Smith Barney, Eli Lilly, Fitch Rating, Coventry Healthcare, Target, and T-Mobile, among others.

On November 1, a bilingual job fair at the Charlotte Merchandise Mart in Charlotte, North Carolina, will connect employers looking for qualified workers and candidates who can speak both Spanish and English.