The Industry
Estimates from Statista put the revenue generated in 2014 by the translation industry at $37 billion. That revenue is expected to grow to $47 billion by 2018. Among the major users of translation services are businesses who need to communicate with their customers as well as with their own employees. To do that, untold numbers of franchise and company documents as well as consumer marketing materials, advertising and instructional manuals have to be translated.
Native speakers familiar with the diversity of the language depending on where it is spoken are in high demand. For example, Spanish isn’t spoken by Mexicans the same as it is by Cubans or Venezuelans.