Mid-Year Demographic Research Reveals Substantial Increases in Demand for Interpretation
MONTEREY, Calif., Oct. 5, 2010 — Language Line Services, the world's leading provider of language-based solutions, today announced plans to expand its sales and marketing division by up to 20% to capitalize on anticipated new growth within the interpretation market. The move was prompted by the company's mid-year demographic research report, the Language Line(R) LanguageTrak report, which found double to triple digit increases in demand for language assistance in more than 15 major U.S. metropolitan areas.
In addition to increased demand for interpretation in more common languages such as Mandarin, Spanish, Cantonese, French and Arabic, the Language Line(R) LanguageTrak report also found a significant rise in demand for less common languages, including Bengali, which experienced a more than 170 percent growth in demand in Denver; Burmese, which was also requested 170 percent more often in San Antonio; and Hmong requests, which increased by more than 100 percent in Kansas City, Mo., when comparing the first two quarters of fiscal year 2010 to the corresponding periods in fiscal year 2009. Hospitals, health service providers and government municipalities throughout Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York, Seattle and Toronto also expanded their language assistance programs significantly during this timeframe. (See chart below for additional statistics.)
Language Line Services President and COO Louis Provenzano noted that, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 23 million people in this country are considered to have limited English proficiency and need language assistance when communicating in English. Provenzano also noted that a report issued by the U.S. Department of Labor expected the interpretation field to grow by approximately 24 percent in the next decade, with demand for medical interpreters being a major driver of this expected growth.
"While the market for interpretation and translation has been steadily growing throughout the last decade, we have just scratched the surface on where we believe demand will go in the coming years," said Provenzano. "We believe the combination of sweeping health regulations and dramatic shifts in our nation's demographics has created a significant opportunity to expand our sales and marketing division."
The expansion of its sales and marketing workforce comes on the heels of the more than 1,000 new positions Language Line Services added in April 2010 following the launch of several new interpretation solutions and offerings, including:
- Language Line(R) Mobile Interpreter(SM) — the first Apple iPhone application with on-demand, unlimited access to live interpreters in 10 languages.
- Interpreter Certification and Security Clearance — services designed to meet the increasing demands from new and growing contracts with federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security.
- Joint Commission Compliance — program offering instructional materials and consultations to help hospitals comply with new language access accreditation standards taking effect in January 2011.
Language Line Services currently helps 90 percent of U.S. 9-1-1 call centers, 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies, and thousands of hospitals and government agencies across the country speak the languages of their patients and residents using its base of professionally trained and employed interpreters, rather than contracted interpreters.
"Even with these strong market positions, we feel this significant workforce expansion is necessary to prepare for continued growth," added Provenzano.
For more information about Language Line Services' career opportunities, please visit http://www.languageline.com/careers or call (800) 532-4441.
About Language Line Services
Language Line Services, the global leader in telephone interpreting and language solutions, serves clients in government, healthcare, telecommunications, financial services, utilities, insurance and many other industries by quickly connecting them to their customers, patients and sales prospects in more than 170 spoken languages as well as American Sign Language (ASL) and Mexican Sign Language (LSM). Growth of the language interpreting industry has soared with increased immigration and government regulatory policies mandating that organizations provide services to limited English speakers in their own languages. Language Line Services is recognized as a trusted partner to thousands of public and private organizations throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, providing easy access to the industry's fastest language interpreting service at highly competitive rates. For more information about Language Line Services' suite of telephone, on-site and video interpreting, document translation, interactive software-based translation, interpreter training and certification programs, please call (800) 752-6096 or visit http://www.languageline.com.
Sidebar: Growing Demand for Language Interpretation
Q1 and Q2 2009 Compared with Q1 and Q2 2010
| LANGUAGE | GROWTH | GEOGRAPHICAL FOCUS |
| Bengali | 170% | Denver |
| Burmese | 170% | San Antonio |
| Albanian | 159% | Eastern and Northwestern Connecticut |
| Hmong | 110% | Kansas City, MO |
| Khmer | 101% | Houston |
| Hungarian | 96% | Toronto |
| Karen | 89% | St Paul, MN |
| Nepali | 87% | Dallas |
| Amharic | 76% | Southern Virginia |
| Somali | 70% | Chicago |
| Haitian Creole | 66% | Boston |
| Armenian | 52% | New York |
| Farsi | 43% | Oakland, CA |
| Tigrinya | 40% | Seattle |
Editor's note: A complete list of detailed language statistics by geography is available upon request. The information above reflects the languages most requested by emergency services, government agencies, health care facilities and businesses.
For more information contact:
Jeanine Karp / Email / 305-448-3754
Dale Hansman / Email / 831-648-7436
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