While the employment outlook for linguists has improved over the past decade, it is still not good. There are more qualified linguists than there are jobs for them, and most openings will occur as other linguists retire or leave the field. The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that employment for college and university social sciences professors will grow just 1 percent through 2028; linguistics is not a high-growth field.
As private companies expand and business becomes more international in scope, knowledge of foreign language and culture may prove very beneficial to those linguists who develop additional business skills. Those people who do not limit themselves to strictly linguistic work and instead market their skills in other areas where they can be useful should be able to carve out their own employment niche.
More jobs for linguists are available today in the private sector. Computers and the Internet have created opportunities for linguists in developing computer languages and software that are more like human language. Some Internet companies are enticing linguistics students away from universities before they even finish their degrees with offers of high-paying positions. Opportunities for computational linguists will be much stronger than those for linguists who work in traditional fields of study.
- Anthropologists
- Archaeologists
- College Professors
- Conservators and Conservation Technicians
- Cultural Advisers
- Demographers
- Economists
- Education Directors and Museum Teachers
- English as a Second Language (ESL) Teachers
- Ethnoscientists
- Foreign Service Officers
- Futurists
- Genealogical Researchers
- Genealogists
- Geographers
- Historians
- Historic Preservationists
- Interpreters
- Lexicographers
- Medical Ethicists
- Political Scientists
- Secondary School Teachers
- Sign Language and Oral Interpreters
- Sociologists
- Statisticians
- Translators