| Páginas no assunto: [1 2] > | Poll: Translators should have a plan B because we will earn less and less. Autor da sequência: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Translators should have a plan B because we will earn less and less.".
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| | | | | Everyone should have a plan B ... | Jan 28 |
... regardless of their field of work, regardless of their potential earnings, regardless of ... anything and everything that might suddenly steer their immaculately-tailored plan A over the edge of a cliff.
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Translation is already my plan B and I have no plan C! I’m old and I have experienced many turning points over the years, so we will see...
| | | | Dan Lucas 
Reino Unido
Local time: 11:55
Membro (2014)
Japonês para Inglês
| Still working on it | Jan 29 |
I agree with Jennifer - nearly everybody needs a plan B, and not only translators. I would caution people against thinking that employees working full-time at regular companies have stability, because in most cases they do not. If you flee from translation in the mistaken belief that you will have security in a 9-to-5 you may get an unpleasant shock.
Having said that, my plan B it is still a long way from being ready to go but I'm working on it. Translation paying the bills again af... See more I agree with Jennifer - nearly everybody needs a plan B, and not only translators. I would caution people against thinking that employees working full-time at regular companies have stability, because in most cases they do not. If you flee from translation in the mistaken belief that you will have security in a 9-to-5 you may get an unpleasant shock.
Having said that, my plan B it is still a long way from being ready to go but I'm working on it. Translation paying the bills again after a short dry spell, but it has spurred me to invest more effort in alternative sources of income.
Regards,
Dan ▲ Collapse
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| There is, however, also a trend towards demanding verification of translations | Jan 29 |
It could potentially save the day. It would appear to me that regulating most jobs is becoming more popular than ever. To begin with, I think it is because it has become more difficult, in the digital era, to build a reputation, and to earn money based on that reputation. That could be because we are not limiting the geographic area in which we look for work. Here in Germany, at least, we now have two types of requirement for certification or verification of the accuracy of translations. There i... See more It could potentially save the day. It would appear to me that regulating most jobs is becoming more popular than ever. To begin with, I think it is because it has become more difficult, in the digital era, to build a reputation, and to earn money based on that reputation. That could be because we are not limiting the geographic area in which we look for work. Here in Germany, at least, we now have two types of requirement for certification or verification of the accuracy of translations. There is the traditional sort, based on a Court-authorised licence that seems to me (certainly in practical terms) to be mostly orientated towards certifying personal documents that are to be presented to authorities.
There was, for some years, a lack of an equivalent certification for business documentation, since the traditional Court certification is definitely unsuitable for larger documents, for a variety of practical reasons, ranging from clipping wads of papers together to the intense amount of concentration required. Against this background, ISO 17100 certification, based on the four-eye principle, as well as on correct procedures, seems to be becoming more popular than ever. If this is the case, then I do not see where machine translation or its cousins come into the picture. They cannot certify. In this climate, a 'translation' is meaningless if it cannot be proven by whom or what, or how, it has been done.
To this day, as far as I understand, we have NOT reached a point where machines can think, the way human beings do. The progress in the field of either MT or any other form of AI that 'produces' translations is still only based on advanced programming. That most certainly means that human beings will, for the foreseeable future, have to at least be involved in checking MT/AI output. I have also noticed, from our own operations, that such checking is a complex task, with which I would not personally trust people who are not professional linguists (think: various types of company employees).
In a poor economy, it is quite likely that companies will be tempted to try to find ways to cut costs on translation. However, if they are among the many who are also enthusiastic about having translations checked/certified/verified, then, at the latest once the economy picks up again, and they have some cash to spare, they will probably be giving their business to agencies - or also individual translators - who are the holders of certifications such as the ISO 17100 and a couple of others (related). The economy generally swings up again after a while. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Claudio Napoli
Eslováquia
Local time: 12:55
Membro (2024)
Russo para Italiano
+ ...
You should always have a plan B for all eventualities.
But since I've dedicated my entire existence to studying languages, without suspecting that AI would rob me of all my efforts and skills, my eyesight is now too weak to be a highly qualified and well-paid killer, I don't have the suitable physical shape that would allow me to be a decent mercenary, and my age doesn't even allow me to become a slave to some multinational corporation (I'm 48 years old).
So I plan to return with m... See more You should always have a plan B for all eventualities.
But since I've dedicated my entire existence to studying languages, without suspecting that AI would rob me of all my efforts and skills, my eyesight is now too weak to be a highly qualified and well-paid killer, I don't have the suitable physical shape that would allow me to be a decent mercenary, and my age doesn't even allow me to become a slave to some multinational corporation (I'm 48 years old).
So I plan to return with my wife to Ukraine, when the princes of our sinful Earth deign to end the war, and live off the fruits of our dacha's orchard. If our dacha itself has not been destroyed yet, of course.
The punchline of this joke is that I'm not joking.
[Edited at 2025-01-29 08:22 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Not too old to be a wage slave ;) | Jan 29 |
Claudio Napoli wrote:
You should always have a plan B for all eventualities.
But since I've dedicated my entire existence to studying languages, without suspecting that AI would rob me of all my efforts and skills, my eyesight is now too weak to be a highly qualified and well-paid killer, I don't have the suitable physical shape that would allow me to be a decent mercenary, and my age doesn't even allow me to become a slave to some multinational corporation (I'm 48 years old).
So I plan to return with my wife to Ukraine, when the princes of our sinful Earth deign to end the war, and live off the fruits of our dacha's orchard. If our dacha itself has not been destroyed yet, of course.
The punchline of this joke is that I'm not joking.
[Edited at 2025-01-29 08:22 GMT]
I'm sorry to hear about your eyesight, though you may consider reskilling as a blind ninja  On a more serious note: I think you would be able to find a day job at 48 in the current economical state. Employers are eager to find people who can get the job done, and they're much less picky with regard to age, sex, last name or even diplomas than they used to be. I'm 48 as well, and i'm thinking of getting a job as a pharmacy technician or a hearing specialist to avoid being run over by the AI train eventually. Both of these professions require a specific diploma, but training-on-the-job positions are available.
[Edited at 2025-01-29 08:43 GMT]
| | | | Novian Cahyadi
Indonésia
Local time: 18:55
Membro (2024)
Inglês para Indonésio
Dan Lucas wrote:
I would caution people against thinking that employees working full-time at regular companies have stability, because in most cases they do not. If you flee from translation in the mistaken belief that you will have security in a 9-to-5 you may get an unpleasant shock.
If COVID-19 ever taught me anything, it's this. IT professionals have been experiencing massive layoffs for quite a few years. From what I've gathered, it's become difficult to gain a footing in the tech industry, unless you are exceptionally skilled and incredibly lucky. Even startups ended up being swallowed by the bigger fishes.
Sounds familiar? It should be.
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Tom in London
Reino Unido
Local time: 11:55
Membro (2008)
Italiano para Inglês
| facts/rumours/hearsay | Jan 29 |
I would be interested to get facts/rumours/hearsay - true or untrue- about how the agencies are dealing with this situation.
Are they still charging their end clients what they used to charge, whilst paying translators much less?
Do you know of any that have gone out of business or have changed their business model?
And as for you, a translator:
Are you experiencing more difficulty than usual when it comes to getting paid?
What kinds of text... See more I would be interested to get facts/rumours/hearsay - true or untrue- about how the agencies are dealing with this situation.
Are they still charging their end clients what they used to charge, whilst paying translators much less?
Do you know of any that have gone out of business or have changed their business model?
And as for you, a translator:
Are you experiencing more difficulty than usual when it comes to getting paid?
What kinds of text are you still getting as full (human) translation jobs, at your usual rate? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Bélgica
Local time: 12:55
Membro (2020)
Francês para Holandês
+ ...
As long as I earn enough money I will focus on my business and on nothing else. The day I stop earning enough money I will quit and search for another job, like any other normal human being that loses his job for whatever reason.
I've seen people write on these pages that they have hardly had any work during the past 6 months. That baffles me, to be honest: there is zero chance that I would still be a fulltime freelancer after a slow period like that. I would draw my conclusions way... See more As long as I earn enough money I will focus on my business and on nothing else. The day I stop earning enough money I will quit and search for another job, like any other normal human being that loses his job for whatever reason.
I've seen people write on these pages that they have hardly had any work during the past 6 months. That baffles me, to be honest: there is zero chance that I would still be a fulltime freelancer after a slow period like that. I would draw my conclusions way faster than that. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Novian Cahyadi
Indonésia
Local time: 18:55
Membro (2024)
Inglês para Indonésio
You live in London. There are soooooo many London agencies that have contacted me through various channels, most of which are awful in a multitude of ways. You can just go outside and see if they're still doing all right.
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Bélgica
Local time: 12:55
Membro (2020)
Francês para Holandês
+ ...
Tom in London wrote:
What kinds of text are you still getting as full (human) translation jobs, at your usual rate?
I still get a lot of jobs from basically every field, including contracts, user manuals and internal business documentation, all fields of which quite a few fellow translators here claim that they are all handed over to AI. Well, they aren't.
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Baran Keki
Turquia
Local time: 14:55
Membro
Inglês para Turco
Novian Cahyadi wrote:
You live in London. There are soooooo many London agencies that have contacted me through various channels, most of which are awful in a multitude of ways. You can just go outside and see if they're still doing all right.
The vast majority of those 'London agencies' are in fact located in the former Soviet block or the Middle East, or in some dilapidated council housing block. It would be unfair to urge Tom to venture into those areas.
However all those agencies do possess a London city postal address. I could've gotten one myself by paying 150 GBP a year, had I decided to form a company in the UK (just to be able to continue to use Wise from Turkey) and start paying taxes there...
| | | | Dan Lucas
Reino Unido
Local time: 11:55
Membro (2014)
Japonês para Inglês
| You're probably in a minority | Jan 29 |
Lieven Malaise wrote:
there is zero chance that I would still be a fulltime freelancer after a slow period like that.
For some time my assumption has been that relatively few people are full-time translators who are dependent entirely on this profession. You are. I am. There are no doubt many others on Proz.com, but is that representative of the market as a whole?
I reckon that for most individuals translation is a side gig that takes up a few hours a week, or such people are semi-retired and doing translation for fun or pin money, or they are not the only earner in the household and therefore translation work is not required for them to survive. Or indeed a combination of all the above.
I mean, how else can one explain that statistic drawn from a survey of translators a few years back that concluded that around 50% of freelancers earn less than $20,000 a year? You cannot really keep body and soul together on that in a developed country without additional income.
Dan
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 11:55
Membro (2015)
Inglês para Português
+ ...
| I totally agree with Jennifer | Jan 29 |
Having a backup plan isn't just about money, it’s about life!
Unexpected situations happen, like diseases or accidents that can temporarily or permanently affect our ability to work, market shifts that can impact demand and personal changes, like wanting a career shift.
Any professional needs contingency plans, not just because of industry trends, but because life is unpredictable.
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