At my current job we use Scala extensively. I didn't have much experience with it, but found it pretty easy to pick up, mostly due to its similarity to StandardML (much moreso than e.g. Java, Haskell or Python; which are also clearly influences)

In fact, my only previous experience with Scala was from hacking on Isabelle/HOL, which is mostly StandardML, but happens to use Scala in the periphery (scripting, UI, etc.)!