Perceptions, Skills, and Technologies for the Revitalization of Translation Industry in the Post COVID-19 Era: An Empirical Evidence from Saudi Arabia

Translation service has been essential before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of the considered frontline services, especially in a multilingual nation like Saudi Arabia. However, just like any other industry, translation had to undergo necessary changes that could have been realized even without the repercussion of a pandemic. This study looked into the change-related issues that struck the translation industry/business, including the adoption of translation tech tools and the reformation of translation course programs and curricula. With the participation of 103 study respondents and the sheer use of descriptive statistical analysis, it was found that the dominantly rookie workforce of the Saudi translation industry is now shifting towards engaging in remote services, adopting new technological tools, and continually engaging in professional development courses and trainings. In the survey, it was further revealed that the translators have a thirst for knowledge in managing business and the skill in using computer-aided translation (CAT) and other media tools. It was deduced that in order for translation to be more productive, lucrative, and most of all, reliable, translators have to learn to adapt to these changes. Moreover, this study offers timely challenges in the breeding of a more resilient translator workforce in the future. When clearly viewed from a more general perspective, this pandemic has brought to light one positive realization despite the devastation it has caused to the population - one should not be content with something just because it works; sometimes, he has to learn new tricks to produce better outcomes.