Freelancer 7 Survey Data
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Freelancer 7 Survey Data

Featured Content / For LSPs / Industry Data and Resources / Freelancer 7 Survey Data
CSA Research surveyed freelance linguists worldwide for the seventh time
to see how global conditions have affected them as providers of language services.
These are the overall results from the 482 responses received from language professionals in 70 countries.

 

See Other Business Confidence Survey Results



How did business change since early 2023?
The percentage of freelancers reporting decreases in income is slightly increasing. It was 36% back in February last year, then 38% in August 2022, and now 39%.

 

What factors are harming freelancers?

Inflation dominates the factors that have harmed linguists since the beginning of 2023, affecting more than three of out five respondents (60%). Nearly half (48%) cite as concerns competition from improved machine translation and over one-third (36%) competition from freelancers who are not professional linguists as concerns. 



What has been your experience with demand?
The highest-growth services were editing of machine translation (58%), remote simultaneous interpreting (41%), and over-the phone and video remote interpreting (41%).

 

Are you optimistic or pessimistic?

 The survey results indicate a mixed sentiment within participants. While 39% expressed optimism, 26% leaned towards pessimism, and a significant 35% admitted to being unsure about their outlook. These diverse perspectives reflect the complex dynamics and uncertain future of the industry.

 

Confidence score: Translation services

The confidence scores for translation services and editing of machine translation showed differing trends from Q3 2020 to Q1 2023. The demand for machine translation editing is on a strong upward trend while translation experiences a slow downward trend, indicating a decrease in demand for human-only translation services.