While the pandemic may have negatively impacted many industries, COVID-19 dramatically impacted the translation industry in a good way. According to Forbes, translation services are growing at twice the rate compared to the global economy. By 2025 the industry is expected to be valued at $73.6 billion. As the industry progresses, there are several trends and changes to watch for in 2022.
Increased Travel
The global pandemic significantly impacted tourism and business travel. However, now with countries opening their borders and the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, travelers are taking to the skies again as they try to make up for lost time. In 2022, experts the U.S. travel sector to increase by 35.6 percent compared to 2020. In 2023, experts expect an additional increase of 28.4 percent.
As for business travel, Delta Air Lines, American and United Airlines saw a return to business-related travel and an increased volume in business-heavy markets last summer—a trend that is expected to continue throughout the coming year. With globalization and interest in international travel rising, the demand for translation and translators will grow in order to facilitate business and global travel communications.
Impact of Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is creating more opportunities for translators in the remote workforce. With expectations that the number of translators will grow 20 percent by 2029, rapid expansion is on the industry’s horizon. As for on-site jobs, expect more options that enable translators to easily connect with resources and individuals in their field. In both cases, translators can provide an immense amount of value to companies by specializing in specific industries.
For example, there will be an increased demand for e-learning and educational materials. From video courses to quizzes, businesses will need to utilize translators to reach their global customers. This creates an opportunity for translators and translation companies to specialize in a specific area with accelerated growth for companies that focus on information technology, cybersecurity, telehealth, software, and a variety of other highly technical or specialized offerings.
Translators should find their niche and use their abilities to translate customer materials, technical specs, and more in order to reach companies’ global audiences.
Improvements in Technology
As seen in many sectors, advancements in technology are at an all-time high. Artificial intelligence, machine translation models, and other technologies are driving growth and improving the translation process. Innovative software continues to simplify translation between two languages––making the process faster and more accurate. While it may seem like this eliminates the need for human translators, that’s far from true. Technology falls flat in its ability to pick up on nuances and cultural specificities in translations. With that in mind, human translators provide much-needed value in enhancing automated translations.
2022 is a big year for the translation industry’s growth. Technology will be instrumental in meeting the needs of companies that rely on translations while also improving translators’ workflows. Now is a great time for human translators to capitalize on advancements and increased demand as new opportunities are available to grow remotely, on-site, and across industries.
TrueLanguage is excited by the opportunities unfolding for 2022 and is focused on improving communications with audiences by building meaningful translations and localization. Our experts rely on innovative technology solutions to enhance our translations and streamline our processes. As globalization increases, more businesses rely on us to localize communications and training materials so they can better appeal to their global audiences.
