The European Commission unveiled the results of its 2025 European Language Industry Survey (ELIS) during the EC’s Translating Europe Workshops on March 18, 2025. EUATC, ELIA, GALA, and Women in Localization were among the organizations that collaborated on the 13th edition, as were the EC Masters in Translation network; the European Regional Centre of the International Federation of Translators; and the ECs Language Industry Expert Group. 

Christos Ellinides, Director-General for Translation at the EC, opened the presentation by celebrating a strong response rate — more than 1,300 responses from independent language professionals, language service providers (LSPs), language departments, universities, and students. Ellinides described the results as portraying a “true snapshot of the language industry today” — an industry in flux, and perhaps at an inflection point related to the adoption of new technologies.

“The results of last year’s survey suggested that in the mind of most language professionals, the use of AI in the industry was still in its infancy,” Ellinides said. “Fast forward just 12 months or so, and almost half of these professionals are now saying they use AI for their daily work.” 

The specifics are, of course, more complex, with adoption not necessarily uniform across roles, verticals, and type of employment. Ellinides noted that the ELIS findings mirrored changes DGT itself has seen. 

In particular, DGT, like other language industry organizations, has seen recruitment fall, with staff retiring or leaving the service. But the DGT has also changed its recruitment strategy, prioritizing candidates’ tech know-how and ability to use language tools alongside more traditional language skills. 

“We did exactly what every organization should be doing: remain alert and adjust our business model within a constantly evolving environment,” he explained. “Establishing a technology pillar in DGT is really part of our response to the trends that have been sweeping the industry the last few years.”

The standalone Directorate for Technology has four separate units, with such diverse missions as supporting legacy “CAT tools” and other IT applications; developing and managing AI-based multilingual services; and overseeing data management, with an eye to maintaining language sets to produce an institutional European Union large language model (LLM), eventually to be open-sourced. This pillar complements an AI network focused on strengthening the existing e-Translation system. 

A Mixed Bag and Mixed Emotions

Of the 1,322 responses from 50 different countries, 654 were independent language professionals (i.e., freelancers); 179 represented language service providers (LSPs); 71 came from language departments within non-LSP organizations; 137 were from university staff; and 281 were students. 

According to the 2025 ELIS Report, both LSPs and individual language professionals reported negative growth, a continuation of trends from the previous year. 

“For the first time since ELIS started, [LSPs] expect this trend to continue not only in their own activity, but also in the global language market and even more strongly in their local market,” the report stated. 

Approximately half (90 of 179 LSPs) saw revenue drop by an average of 19%. The average growth for the 18.3%, or 33 companies, that reported an increase in revenues was 16%. 

M&A sentiment, meanwhile, did not change dramatically, with LSP respondents expressing interest in selling versus buying. (Twelve respondents said they were currently involved in an M&A transaction, though the report did not specify on which end.)

Dissatisfaction with earnings, however, is high. Only 58% of LSP respondents — 70% of which were business owners — said they were satisfied with their own income; for freelancers, it was 57%. Interpreters saw the greatest drop in satisfaction, from 80% saying in 2024 that they earned enough freelancing to just 65% in 2025. 

Language departments, which could fall under public agencies at the international, national, or local level or at a private company, reported less negative predictions for the market; by contrast, they expect to see the market grow and prices increase.

Does the data support this rosier outlook? Language departments continue to struggle with decreases in staff and shrinking language budgets, challenges they already faced in 2024. Both national public agencies and private companies saw dramatic downsizing, around 50%, over the year.

While independent language professionals expressed less pessimism about the global language market, pricing remains a major frustration — one that may factor into some experienced professionals’ decisions about whether, or how, to remain in the field. According to survey results, 23% of practitioners are currently considering ending their “independent language activity.”

Interestingly, the survey found an “obvious correlation between client type and performance”: SME-type direct clients were the best bet, while working with large LSPs as a subcontractor ranked as less “rewarding.”

The same proved true for LSPs, as companies with a high ratio of large, direct clients performed better than those with a significant portion of work subcontracting for larger LSPs. 

University staff and students also tended to have a more optimistic outlook on the global market compared to LSPs and individual freelancers, although students with internship experience — an increasingly rare commodity — seemed to have “more realistic” views of the market.

In addition to the concerns shared by experienced professionals regarding stagnant or decreasing earnings, students face a lack of internships and, post-graduation, cuts in recruitment. Coupled with falling price rates, students expressed uncertainty as to whether the language industry can provide them with a stable career path; this is also reflected in waning registration numbers at university programs.

Upskilling to Tech-Savvy

According to 2025 ELIS results, there is “only one real trend: the rise of AI, [machine translation], and other technologies.” 

Forty-four percent of university staff said generative AI is already implemented at their institutions (though whether for translation versus other tasks was not specified), but students described GenAI usage as infrequent. 

The users of such AI and related technology may feel conflicted, seeing it as both a tool to work more efficiently and a means to replace human linguists and decimate rates. In the context of this conflict, among both independent language professionals and LSPs, actual MT usage now exceeds the 50% mark.

Half of LSPs said they now use MT, and 34% said they use AI. For individuals, the rates were even higher, with 54% saying they use MT and 43% reportedly using AI.

The 2025 ELIS report noted that respondents said they are working to improve their situations by acquiring new skills and developing other activities, “which are probably more effective in the long term than merely increasing sales and marketing activities.”

“A lot of translators are now actively contributing to all [of DGT’s] technological developments while maintaining their translation capacities — an upskilling process that I consider necessary for any language professional,” Ellinides said.