Sign Language and Oral Interpreters

The U.S. Department of Labor reports that employment for interpreters and translators, including sign language and oral interpreters, is expected to grow by 2 percent, slower than the average for all careers, through 2033. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, "demand for American Sign Language interpreters is expected to grow due to the increasing use of video relay services, which allow people to conduct online video calls and use a sign language interpreter. Computer tools, including artificial intelligence (AI), have made the work of translators and localization specialists more efficient. However, many of these jobs cannot be entirely automated because computers cannot yet produce work comparable to what human translators do in most cases."

Additionally, legislation enacted over the last 20 years has increased demand for interpreters. More deaf students are getting a postsecondary education because of access to classroom interpreters. The elderly population is growing as well, a population threatened with a number of disorders that can lead to hearing impairment. Society recognizes the need to involve more deaf people in the larger community and to pay more attention to deaf culture.

In March 2024, the National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes at the University of Texas at Austin estimated that, based on findings from the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS), the United States is home to approximately 11 million individuals who are either deaf or have serious hearing difficulties. This amounts to about 3.6 percent of the population. Many more (48 million people) have some type of hearing loss, according to the Hearing Loss Association of America.

The role of the sign language interpreter will change as the deaf community changes. An interpreter's job can be greatly affected by the politics of the deaf community. There is much controversy concerning how deaf children should be educated and how involved deaf children need be with the hearing population. Some members of the deaf community want to be classified as a minority group instead of as a disability group; however, this would prevent deaf people from receiving most of the benefits they now receive, including interpreters in the schools. It could also result in difficulty "mainstreaming" deaf students into public schools. Without the interpreters guaranteed by the Americans with Disabilities Act, the parents of deaf students would have to hire their own interpreters, or send their children to residential schools.

For the last few years, however, legislation has fully supported mainstreaming. Government has even been moving toward "full inclusion," or mainstreaming, of all deaf students. This causes concern among many members of the deaf community—full inclusion could mean deaf students would not be allowed the opportunity of a special education environment.

Many more deaf people are enrolling in postsecondary programs, and occupational opportunities have improved for highly educated deaf people. But the overall employment rates for deaf people have not improved much. Interpreters may become more involved in correcting this imbalance; employee assistance programs will need interpreters to help train and integrate deaf people in new jobs. Businesses may also provide special programs for their deaf employees to help them earn promotions. Social services need also to focus on helping young ethnic-minority deaf persons. A number of problems affect this group. Programs need to be established to help them become prepared for postsecondary education.

Because of such legislation as the Americans with Disabilities Act, opportunities will be good for sign language interpreters. In addition, the increased demand for interpreters in the schools and in the workplace has resulted in a shortage of qualified professionals.