Translators lost to the lure of Netf lix
Crisis in courts as experts switch to TV giant to dub foreign dramas instead
THE growing popularity of foreign dramas on streaming platforms is fuelling a chronic shortage of skilled translators for court hearings and other public services.
Viewing figures for foreign language shows on Netflix rose by more than 50 per cent last year and are expected to increase further due to the popularity of Korean survival drama Squid Game, Spanish crime series Money
Heist and French thriller Lupin. But experts say that the rush to find foreign-language speakers to add subtitles or dubbing to these programmes means there are too few available for other work. It comes as the UK faces a shortage of skilled linguists, with the Migration Advisory Committee recommending they should be added to the official skills shortage list.
Police, courts and healthcare services all rely on translators and interpreters, with their use in court rising by about seven per cent each year.
A lack of availability has even caused some trials to collapse, the Advisory Committee warned.
Netflix has announced it will spend £377million on expanding its list of
Korean films and series, while Disney Plus plans to spend £24.8billion on content in 2022, including foreignlanguage programmes.
Professor Jorge Diaz-Cintas, of the Centre for Translation Studies at University College London, said: ‘With the arrival of Netflix, but also newcomers like Disney Plus, it has had a knock-on effect on the number of people they need to translate these programmes. The impact has been felt at many different levels – there is a huge volume of material that needs to be translated and they need more people to do the translation.
‘Because of the volume of programmes that are produced, the translation industry desperately needs newcomers to be able to deal with the amount of work.’
Paul Wilson, of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, said poor pay was causing many to leave the industry, particularly in the public sector. ‘Translation is a highly skilled profession. Understandably, many are choosing to take work in other sectors that pay better.’