The global economic downturn dominates the headlines of nearly every major news story in both business and consumer media. Recent financial results show that some companies in the language services industry have been reporting impressive growth, while others claim steep losses. To us, this begs an important question: “How — if at all — have freelance translators, interpreters, and other language professionals been affected?”

We took the pulse of the people who actually do the heavy linguistic lifting. The results of our survey of 277 freelancers from around the world reveal some interesting trends. A few highlights:

• Overall, things look good. In spite of the fact that Q4 of 2008 was one of the most tumultuous in recent global financial history, nearly half of freelance language professionals said that business during that quarter was “satisfactory” (49.8%), while the second largest group of respondents characterized things as “good” (27.8%) Just under a quarter (22.4%) described things as “bad.”
• Most language professionals report stable pay rates. The majority of freelancers (67.5%) said that their rates had stayed the same in the past three months. Less than a fifth (18.8%) said that their rates went down, while more than a tenth (13.7%) had raised their rates.
• The pricing pressure is constant. Large numbers of interpreters and translators reported requests from agencies to decrease their rates, but the overwhelming majority (76.9%) said that they did not intend to charge any less in the next three months.
• Diversification and specialization are key. Many freelancers explained that when they saw decreases in demand in a given industry or setting, they witnessed spikes in other areas. As one respondent points out, “The translation market is pretty resilient. When things are good, you translate loan agreements. During downturns, you translate foreclosures.”

Additional findings are reported in the full nine-page Quick Take, “Freelancers Voice Their Views on the Economy,” available for free with registration on our website. Freelancers, you can continue providing your feedback by participating in our latest survey on translation tools and other issues here.