Impact of the tough economic times on the localization industry 

People have been asking me if worsening economy affects our business. Until recently I used to say no... In the last few months the amount of projects we had stayed the same if not got any higher. Our current clients, which in majority are language service providers, have quite optimistic goals for 2009 despite the fact that the rest of the word is worried about tightening pockets. We even entered into a few new bids for bigger localization projects... but at the end, all of them were put on hold due to uncertain market conditions. Translation and localization industry turned out not to be as recession proofed as I hoped for.

At first, our industry didn't seem to be much affected by financial turmoil. This assumption was an outcome of continuation of projects from the previous year.  But once funds run out, companies may find themselves with little or no investment in new localization or translation projects.   

Even though translation investments are quite small compared to the revenue they generate, many American companies lower their budgets for localizing products and services for international markets. Interestingly enough, they believe that cutting on translation spending is somehow helpful during tough economic times -- a long term perspective suggests just opposite.

English Language programs are perfect examples of this phenomenon.  Hardly any of these programs have their web site entirely localized into foreign languages. It is usually the home page which is localized while all other pages along with navigation stay in English. The reason for not localized content is the most common one – lack of financial resources. Nothing would be so unusual if not the fact that the market audience of such programs has little or hardly any knowledge of English language. So how do prospective students benefit from the two translated paragraphs on the - for example -  “About US” page? Temporary hope for finding more information in their native language…  But once they click on other links and are directed to English content, they quickly realize that finding the information they need is not going to be easy.

Finding information and following instructions in a non-native language may be quite overwhelming if not frustrating for those who are not fluent. Is it reasonable to expect that someone who is interested in learning English will be able to understand the information about the program, it’s cost and application process if the content is only available in English? Instead of making the application process as easy as possible and encourage potential candidates to apply, lack of localization creates additional obstacles and, perhaps, prevents those who don’t speak English from choosing this particular program over the other.

While cutting on localization budgets may make sense for those who are interested in quick, visible numerical results, in the long term it will most likely translate into significant cut in profits -- especially for businesses that heavily target foreign customers. Localization receives little attention from top decision makers, so whether in academia or in business world, it will always be one of the first items on the list that will be affected by limited budgets.

So what is the solution to localization activities endangered by tough economic times?

The answer to this question will vary from business to business. However, cutting on localization activities should be the very last resort in controlling localization expenses. A more strategic approach is reviewing current localization practices and looking for efficiency improvements.