Perl has been around for a long time. Given its popularity as a language used for simple web services and system administration there has been a lot of code written. A lot of code written also means there's a lot of code to maintain.

When it comes to programming you should pick a language you are comfortable with and use it often. Once you have mastered simple programming methodologies, moving between languages will be relatively easy.

If you want to learn something that's going to get you a job quicker, go to indeed.com or simplyhired.com and search the various languages in the job listings in your local area or where you want to work. You'll get a better gauge of what hiring managers are looking for.