Autumn 2022 Pulse Survey results
ITI’s latest Pulse survey reveals that business confidence has dipped sharply.
Carried out in the first three weeks of October and during a period of economic and political instability in the UK, it is perhaps unsurprising that the latest issue of ITI’s twice-yearly survey of members shows a 13-point dip in member confidence. Only 45% of respondents said they were feeling either ‘very positive’ or ‘positive’ about their work and prospects in the current business environment, compared to 58% in the Spring. Interpreters reported feeling more positive than translators (57% vs 44%).
Despite this sharp decline, confidence remains significantly higher than the depths to which it fell in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.
![Positivity autumn 2022.JPG](https://www.iti.org.uk/static/272f93c3-4e8b-4819-91c3b5c12f559d7c/600x341_highestperformance__4a7c7e45a350/Positivity-autumn-2022JPG.jpg)
64% of respondents said they had gained new clients or business in the last 12 months (versus 66% in the Spring survey). But in respect of existing clients, only 38% said they had seen an increase in the amount of work received and 46% reported a decrease (46% and 36% previously).
Reflecting external pressure, 50% of respondents have now either implemented a rate increase in 2022 or are planning to do so in the next 3-6 months. 25% of respondents reported either a slight or significant improvement in their earnings overall in the past 12 months (vs 20% a year ago), demonstrating the positive effect a rate rise can have.
![percentage planning to change rates autumn 2022.JPG](https://www.iti.org.uk/static/aa9749b8-b514-463c-8982e52fe93f799d/600x377_highestperformance__4a7c7e45a350/percentage-planning-to-change-rates-autumn-2022JPG.jpg)
In this edition of the Pulse survey, we asked members about their split between agency and direct clients for the first time. The findings show that 13% of respondents rely entirely on agencies for their work while 8% work exclusively for direct clients. The average split was 63% agency / 37% direct, with interpreters relying less heavily on agency clients than translators (53% for interpreters vs 65% for translators).
![Direct vs agency autumn 2022.JPG](https://www.iti.org.uk/static/f22f661b-6e21-418e-89e13e74743cc924/600x380_highestperformance__4a7c7e45a350/Direct-vs-agency-autumn-2022JPG.jpg)
We also asked how members find their direct clients. The most frequently stated sources were recommendations (49%), the ITI Directory (41% (MITIs and FITIs only)), referrals (26%), LinkedIn (20%) and networking (18%).
Looking forward to 2023 and CPD, respondents are planning to focus on their subject knowledge (56%), language skills (41%) and technology skills (38%). When asked about the introduction of new CPD badges, 36% said it had/will encourage them to continue logging their CPD beyond the initial 30 hours achieved. When those who don’t log their CPD are excluded, the figure is 42%.