Are In-Person Interpreter Services in Decline Because of COVID-19?

Starting this September, the department of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that it will no longer be allowing asylum claimants to make use of in-person interpreter services. 

 

To prevent the potential spread of COVID-19, the department of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will now only allow asylum seekers to communicate with staff via telephone interpreters. The only question is, will more U.S. businesses and government agencies start following this example? 

In-Person Interpreter Services are Seeing Demand Decline by 55%  

Some remote language interpreters and translators have benefited from a significant increase in work since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

Since the start of the pandemic, everyone from health care service providers to schools, have started reaching out interpreters. Their goal in every case is to ensure that their services remain as accessible to the public as possible.  

 

Sadly, like the department of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, many businesses are only looking for interpreters who can work remotely. 

• According to a recent survey by CSA Research, demand for language translation and interpretation services has fallen by 55% since January. 
• 56% of businesses and interpreters surveyed say that they expect demand for interpreter services to continue to fall until mid-2021. 
• Interpreters most affected by the pandemic are those who have previously worked in the travel, events, and leisure and tourism industry. 

Will COVID-19 Have a Permanent Impact on Interpreter Services?  

At present, survey data from CSA Research shows that 41% of language interpreters feel that COVID-19 will have a permanent effect on the language industry. The main concern for interpreters at present also rests with them not knowing how long the pandemic will last. 

 

Thankfully, while a 55% drop in demand for interpreters is troubling, there are several industries where demand for interpreters is rising.  

• Demand for interpreters in the health care industry is up by 64% since January.  
• The demand for interpreter services in the Life Science and Pharmaceutical industry is up by 41% this year. 
• IT services, media services, and government agencies are all reporting higher than usual demand for interpreters.    

 

As already mentioned, though, while the demand for interpreter services in some industries is rising, there is often a requirement for interpreters to work 100% remotely. 

What Does the Future of In-Person Interpreting Look Like? 

At present, many in-person interpreters are responding to COVID-19 challenges, by diversifying into Remote Simultaneous Interpreting (RSI). This is thanks to the demand for RSI interpreting rising in tandem with a decline in demand for in-person interpreting.  

 

All that we don’t know at present, is whether demand for RSI interpreting will continue to increase when the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Thankfully, pandemic or no pandemic, interpreting agencies like ourselves at Languagers are always on the lookout for both remote and in-person interpreters. 

 

Are you an experienced language interpreter looking to find more one-off and regular clients to work with? If so, consider becoming part of the Languagers team by clicking here.