Communications & Travel Trends 2022

By Joe Miller, Pocket Talk general manager of the Americas and Europe

The past two years have seen a huge shift across all aspects of our lives. So, what can we expect to see when it comes to communication trends in 2022?

The connected world 

We have all witnessed first-hand that what happens in a town or city, even if thousands of miles away, can have a big impact around the globe. Never has the world been so connected both financially and biologically – and this is set to stay. 2022 will see us need to work even more closely with other countries.

The pandemic has bought the world closer together as different countries have had to collaborate to cope. For instance, sharing vaccine and treatment developments has become necessary, as countries in the developed world are reliant on sharing their vaccines with less wealthy countries to ensure an effective global effort to combat the spread of coronavirus variants. The success of this partnership relies on different countries being transparent and vigilant together.

Global job marketplace   

With the UK having a record 1.3 million job vacancies many businesses are struggling to recruit talent – 87% of employers say they are struggling to fill positions, according to recruitment platform Monster.  Companies can now utilise talent from across the globe, which is invaluable to those unable to recruit locally.

The pandemic has accelerated flexible working and thus opened a huge pool of talent internationally. We can expect to see more companies open to the idea of recruiting from other countries creating diverse, multicultural workplaces that will bring a new set of challenges.

The video call is here to stay 

Admittedly many of us have all experienced Zoom fatigue at some point since the pandemic started; however, video conferencing has brought multiple benefits and is set to stay with many of us set to continue to work from home full or part-time. Yet, it does bring challenges. It can be difficult to communicate and there are tech issues such as slow broadband speeds causing video feeds to buffer. We expect to see more innovation in this space as companies require better solutions to make video conferencing even more effective.

Given the increasingly international aspect of business, as discussed above, translation services are going to become more necessary than ever. We expect video calls will go to the next level and some services now enable several languages being spoken in one call without the need for a translator. Pocketalk has recently launched a cloud-based service to offer accurate subtitles to support this interaction.

Meetings return 

We will also see a return to face-to-face interactions where required. For some teams operating internationally, team members haven’t seen each other in person for around two years and there is a real appetite to have in person meetings.

Additionally, we will see trade shows, exhibitions and conferences start to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Travel recommences 

With the hope that new variants are becoming milder, we anticipate international travel will start increasing in 2022. With so many people unable to visit other countries there will be a huge demand to do so. We predict many will be keen to avoid crowded spots and go more off the beaten path. People are desperate to get out and see the world as the pandemic has made many realise there is a world to explore, and they want to challenge themselves with new places and countries. This travel is likely to include more rail journeys, more work-and-play-cations by digital nomads, plus the return of more people going on big ‘bucket’ list holidays.

To get the most out of travel you need to understand and interact in the local language, which requires a translation or interpreter service. Pocketalk has recently launched a translation app that hosts features including voice input which translates as text and audio, reverse translation, pronunciation practice, translation history and camera translations.

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