COVID-19 has evolved into a global event impacting public health as well as the economy. These are uncertain times, and we don’t have all the answers, but looking at past major crises around the world, we can venture into speculation about some likely outcomes.
It is often said that In Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters, one representing danger and the other, opportunity (even though this is one of the most quoted language-related misinterpretations, it serves a good purpose here). Considering that one of the key characteristics of the language industry is that it has so far been impervious to crises, it is safe to assume that while some segments will see a drop in demand for language services, others will spike.
Below is a preliminary pass at what segments will see an increase or decrease in the demand for language services.
| Increase | Neutral | Decrease |
|---|---|---|
|
Healthcare and Medical |
Software Localization |
Travel and Hospitality |
|
eCommerce |
Public Sector |
Conferences |
|
Education/eLearning |
Home improvement |
Manufacturing |
|
Media and Entertainment |
Real Estate |
Sports and Fitness |
|
Business services |
 |
Building and Construction |
|
Personal care and beauty |
 |
Retail |
|
Financial and Legal |
 |
Recruitment |
As a result of the quarantine efforts imposed all over the world, Virtual Interpretation Tools – once struggling to find a place in the market – stand to gain adoption and will find new use cases across the spectrum.
Linguists will adjust their service offerings by switching focus to the areas where there is increased demand. Conference interpreters can temporarily offer written translation services and join remote interpretation platforms.
The pandemic will have lasting effects on the way clients consume language services and will affect industry players financially until the pieces of the economic puzzle are reorganized. In the 2008 recession, companies had on average one bad month in the year. Let’s hope that the impact of the coronavirus is not much more significant.
Thirty years ago, in March 1990, after several years of hyperinflation, Brazil had a young new President who took office with a bang. Among several other measures, President Collor determined that 80 percent of all private assets be frozen for 18 months. Any balance above roughly USD 1,500 in today’s values could not be accessed by individuals and companies for a year and a half and would be repaid in 12 equal installments plus 6 percent interest.
In order to curb an inflation rate that had reached 84 percent per month, the government took drastic measures that affected 30 percent of the country’s GDP and took a toll on every individual and business in the country.
In a way, it was similar to the COVID-19 economic shock that we are all going through. The scale is larger, the areas affected are different, but here are some lessons from those challenging times:
At first, the economic package had an effect. From 84 percent, monthly inflation plunged to 3 percent. But nor for long. In June, it rose to 9 percent and, in the following month, returned to double digits: 12 percent. Per month, not per year.
