2017 is already 2 months old, so what’s going on in the language service industry this year? Here are four key trends for the remainder of this year.
* No shortage in demand for the translation industry
* Machine translation gets better but nowhere does it replace human translation
* More performance tracking for professional translators
* Asia will continue to be the highest growth area for translation services

Continued growth in the translation industry

The translation industry is tied somewhat to the growth in globalisation. Despite the rather gloomy outlook for the world economy ever since the financial crisis of 2008, there has been no slackening off of the demand for good translators. The only doubtful aspect of this steady growth is which language and which specialisation in translation is likely to be in highest demand.

Improvements in machine translation

There is a huge demand for improvements in machine translation, so there is going to be increased investment in this sector. Improved efficiency in machine translation doesn’t necessarily mean a consequent reduction in need for human translators. In fact, machine translation advances will simply make the work of professional translators easier and faster. It seems highly unlikely at this stage that machine translation can be expected to replace human translators. Clients looking for translation tasks will pay less because the translation will be faster. Translators are expected to garner more work, so don’t lose out on income. Machine translation developers gain as their research and development pays off. It’s a win all round!

Performance and quality tracking

The interest in improving performance monitoring mounted throughout 2016 and this is likely to continue in 2017. Interest by clients in being able to differentiate between different professional translation services is the main driver of more formalised measures for quality control.

Asia to continue as the strongest growth area for the translation industry

Partly as a result of uncertainty about the future of the U.S. and Britain, because of the election of Donald Trump and the Brexit referendum respectively has meant a stronger push for businesses to turn to Asia for expansion. Greater business and trade between the rest of the world and Asia means a greater opportunity and need for professional translation services.