As organizations prepare for 2027, ensuring that employees can understand, engage, and participate across languages is becoming an increasingly important business priority. Yet many organizations still rely on a patchwork of language services, informal interpreting arrangements, and technologies that may not meet the needs of their entire workforce. 

During a recent webinar hosted by Boostlingo, How Organizations Can Improve Multilingual Workforce Communication in 2027, Andrea Baccenetti, VP of Strategic Initiatives at Boostlingo, and Viviana Bernabe, CPACC, Interpreting and Accessibility Lead at Welocalize, explored findings from a survey of 119 professionals involved in multilingual workforce communication. 

Watch the Webinar Replay 

How can organizations improve multilingual workforce communication while balancing accessibility, AI accuracy, and cost? Watch the conversation between Boostlingo’s Andrea Baccenetti and Welocalize’s Viviana Bernabe for additional insights from the research and practical considerations for 2027. 

Their discussion highlighted a central challenge: improving language access requires more than selecting a translation or interpreting tool. Organizations need to consider how employees communicate, the risks associated with different interactions, and the combination of human expertise and technology needed to support meaningful participation. 

The Challenge of Fragmented Language Services 

According to Boostlingo’s research, nearly 60% of respondents use two or more separate services to support multilingual workforce communication, with 36% relying on three or more. These services can include telephone and video interpreting, multilingual meetings and events, translated written materials, and accessibility solutions such as captioning and sign language interpreting. 

While managing multiple solutions can introduce complexity, Bernabe cautioned against assuming that consolidating everything into a single platform is necessarily the answer. 

“We’ve always been tech agnostic, so I don’t believe that an all-in-one platform is necessarily the right approach,” said Bernabe. “What the information does tell me is that organizations are looking for a simplified approach.” 

The distinction matters because communication needs vary considerably across an organization. A global town hall, an employee training session, a confidential human resources discussion, and an informal conversation between colleagues may each require different approaches. Even the format of communication can determine whether information is understood. 

In manufacturing environments, for example, differences in reading proficiency and learning preferences can make written memos less effective than spoken communication or other accessible formats. 

“The most effective organizations ensure that their workforce is receiving information in a variety of mediums,” Bernabe explained. 

Rather than standardizing on a single technology, organizations should focus on developing a coordinated approach that supports different communication scenarios while reducing unnecessary complexity. This requires understanding the needs of employees and selecting solutions based on how information is actually shared and used. 

The Hidden Risks of Relying on Bilingual Employees 

One of the study’s most revealing findings concerned the continued reliance on bilingual employees to bridge communication gaps. Forty percent of respondents reported relying on bilingual staff, while 38% identified that reliance as a communication challenge. 

For Baccenetti, the findings reflect a longstanding pattern in workforce language access. Organizations frequently turn to employees who speak multiple languages because they are readily available, even when interpreting is not part of their professional responsibilities. 

Bernabe offered a straightforward guideline for determining when that approach is appropriate: “When it’s part of their job description.” 

Beyond that, organizations must consider whether asking bilingual employees to interpret interferes with their primary responsibilities, reduces productivity, or places them in situations they are not trained to handle.

“One area where it’s absolutely not OK is confidential conversations like a performance evaluation or disciplinary discussion or anything that could include medical or personal information,” Bernabe emphasized. 

In these situations, trained professional interpreters who understand confidentiality requirements and follow established codes of ethics should be prioritized. Being bilingual does not automatically equip an employee with the specialized skills required to interpret accurately, impartially, and appropriately in sensitive professional settings. 

AI Interpretation Is Advancing, but Accuracy Remains Critical 

AI-powered interpretation is becoming a more accessible option for organizations seeking to support multilingual meetings, training sessions, and other workplace interactions. However, adoption continues to raise questions about quality and reliability. 

In Boostlingo’s survey, 45% of respondents identified AI accuracy or quality as a concern when considering broader implementation. Baccenetti noted that while concerns about accuracy have declined over time, they remain a significant barrier to adoption. 

Bernabe stressed that the consequences of inaccurate communication can extend well beyond an individual misunderstanding. “The need for retrainings and the cost implications for the employee, for the trainer, for the loss of productivity in the meantime, and really just ineffective communication,” she said, also noting the potential for legal implications depending on the circumstances. 

AI interpretation can be effective, particularly for certain one-to-many communication scenarios, but successful implementation requires more than simply activating a tool. Organizations need to evaluate how technologies perform with their specific terminology, communication styles, and operational requirements. 

“AI is improving and requires continuous training and investments,” Bernabe said, noting that many organizations have yet to establish effective processes for adapting tools to their terminology and managing accountability when sensitive information or risk is involved. 

Terminology management is especially important. Curated termbases and guidance from language specialists can help establish a stronger foundation for AI-generated communication. Yet organizations often select tools based on price or recommendations without independently assessing performance. 

“Most people aren’t benchmarking,” Bernabe observed. “They’re choosing based on solely price or what a friend is using without understanding if it’s a good fit for their org.” 

As AI interpretation becomes more widely available, organizations will need to place greater emphasis on testing, benchmarking, and selecting technologies according to specific use cases rather than cost or convenience alone. 

Watch the Webinar Replay 

How can organizations improve multilingual workforce communication while balancing accessibility, AI accuracy, and cost? Watch the conversation between Boostlingo’s Andrea Baccenetti and Welocalize’s Viviana Bernabe for additional insights from the research and practical considerations for 2027. 

Watch the webinar replay→

Accessibility Means Participation, Not Just Understanding 

An important theme throughout the webinar was the connection between multilingual communication and accessibility. For Bernabe, effective workforce communication is about ensuring that employees have an equitable opportunity to receive information, understand it, and actively engage with their colleagues. 

That includes spoken and signed languages, multilingual captioning, accessible training materials, and communication formats that accommodate different individual needs. The distinction between receiving information and participating in a conversation is particularly significant. 

Bernabe shared an example of a Welocalize client that developed a sign language support program for both customer-facing interactions and internal employee communications. The initiative included on-demand sign language interpreting for deaf and hard-of-hearing customers visiting retail branches, as well as interpreting support for employee meetings, training, and engagement activities. 

Through its internal center of excellence, the organization expanded the initiative to include sign language interpreting for an employee engagement webinar series. The program created more opportunities for employees to participate directly in workplace conversations rather than simply receive information. 

For organizations evaluating their language access programs, this example illustrates why accessibility must be considered from the perspective of the people using the services. As Bernabe explained, decisions should prioritize “how someone communicates or prefers to communicate” and the specific accommodations they need. 

What Organizations Should Prioritize for 2027

Another finding from the Boostlingo study reinforces the importance of simplifying language access. Sixty percent of respondents indicated that an all-in-one platform would help justify investment in an improved solution, ahead of reducing overall costs. 

But simplicity should not come at the expense of flexibility. For organizations reviewing their multilingual communication strategies, the webinar highlighted several considerations: 

• Assess communication needs across the organization. Identify where employees need translated content, live interpreting, captions, sign language access, or other forms of support. 
• Evaluate accuracy and performance. Determine whether solutions can be benchmarked and whether they meet the terminology, quality, and risk requirements of specific use cases. 
• Consider availability and scalability. Ensure language access can support last-minute requests, high-volume periods, and changing workforce needs. 
• Establish appropriate safeguards. Determine when professional human interpreters are necessary, particularly for confidential or sensitive conversations. 
• Prioritize employee experience. Involve the people who rely on language access when evaluating how communication services are delivered. 

Bernabe also emphasized that different departments within the same organization may have different technology environments, employee requirements, and accessibility needs. 

“What works for one group may not be a good fit for a different group within the same org, even within the same division,” she said. 

This complexity is contributing to a broader change in the role of language services partners. Rather than simply providing individual services or technologies, language specialists are increasingly being asked to help organizations assess their needs, evaluate solutions, and coordinate multilingual communication across departments. 

The Future of Multilingual Workforce Communication

Looking ahead to 2027, Bernabe identified two developments shaping the market. The first is greater coordination of interpreting and real-time communication services within enterprise localization and globalization programs. Bringing these functions together can help organizations maintain consistency across written, spoken, and signed communication. 

The second is broader adoption of machine interpreting, live captioning, and multilingual captioning at scale. As organizations explore these technologies, Bernabe is seeing increased demand for independent evaluation and guidance, with clients asking language services partners to benchmark available tools, determine which solutions fit particular use cases, and manage their implementation. 

For Baccenetti, the potential impact is already visible. He shared an example of an automotive parts manufacturer that implemented AI interpretation for employee training and subsequently saw a reduction in audit nonconformities. Providing training in multiple languages helped the organization demonstrate that employees were receiving the information they needed. 

Examples like these show how multilingual communication can influence operational performance as well as employee experience. As organizations plan for 2027, the opportunity is to build language access into broader workforce communication strategies, with solutions selected according to the people, situations, and business requirements they must support. 

The goal is not simply to make information available in more languages. It is to ensure that employees can understand it, contribute to the conversation, and participate fully in their organizations. 

To learn more about how Welocalize supports multilingual workforce communication through interpreting, accessibility services, and language technology expertise, contact our team.