Pages in topic:   [1 2 3 4 5] >
Translation business in a deep slump?
Thread poster: JAN SNAUWAERT
JAN SNAUWAERT
JAN SNAUWAERT  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 17:05
Member (2008)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Jul 16

Hi all,

I have been in the translation business for several years now and have been quite successful, if I may say so myself.
However, this year, something changed and changed quite a lot. I attribute it to the steep rise of AI in the translation business.

Since several months now, my job volume has plumetted drastically. I am only a year and a half away from retirement, so it need not be a disaster financially, but it is far from a fun experience.

Do
... See more
Hi all,

I have been in the translation business for several years now and have been quite successful, if I may say so myself.
However, this year, something changed and changed quite a lot. I attribute it to the steep rise of AI in the translation business.

Since several months now, my job volume has plumetted drastically. I am only a year and a half away from retirement, so it need not be a disaster financially, but it is far from a fun experience.

Do you, colleague Proz members, experience something similar?
Collapse


Maria Cristina Poli
Daniela Tosi
Angie Garbarino
Román René Orozco
Kay Denney
philgoddard
expressisverbis
 
No change for me Jul 16

But I know someone here who I’m very fond of is struggling.

I think the key is to move away from
the big agencies as much as possible.


Dan Lucas
Mario Chávez
Matthias Brombach
B&B FinTrans
 
Lieven Malaise
Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 17:05
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Hard to say Jul 16

Hard to say because we are all in different situations. Do you work mainly for direct clients or for agencies? Are you highly specialized (meaning that you offer something that most competitors can't) or more of a general translator? Are your rates very high, just high, average or rather low? Do you offer MTPE at a reduced rate or not? These are all factors that might influence one's business nowadays.

Personally I'm still living excellent business times (working mainly for translat
... See more
Hard to say because we are all in different situations. Do you work mainly for direct clients or for agencies? Are you highly specialized (meaning that you offer something that most competitors can't) or more of a general translator? Are your rates very high, just high, average or rather low? Do you offer MTPE at a reduced rate or not? These are all factors that might influence one's business nowadays.

Personally I'm still living excellent business times (working mainly for translation agencies) since I decided in 2020 to take my business to a higher level (meaning achieving maximum efficiency + starting to integrate machine translation).
Collapse


Chris Spurgin
Sangsu CHO
 
Mario Chávez
Mario Chávez
United States
Local time: 11:05
Member (Jun 2024)
English to Spanish
+ ...
The current malaise is not so current Jul 16

I've observed certain trends in the 30+ years of translation practice I've carried so far:

1) Back in the early 1990s, some established translators in my town, New York City, were complaining of lower rates.
2) In the mid 1990s, one of my translation mentors, a financial translator herself, was complaining against the unfair competition brought on by overseas translators (thanks to the much-vaunted globalization) who could afford to charge much less than us locals in the Unite
... See more
I've observed certain trends in the 30+ years of translation practice I've carried so far:

1) Back in the early 1990s, some established translators in my town, New York City, were complaining of lower rates.
2) In the mid 1990s, one of my translation mentors, a financial translator herself, was complaining against the unfair competition brought on by overseas translators (thanks to the much-vaunted globalization) who could afford to charge much less than us locals in the United States.

Overall, MT, NMT and gen AI-aided MT are what I call nuisance technologies; they don't make things better, just faster, by themselves. I worked in MTPE and enjoyed it as long as the client allowed me to have the final say, which meant rewriting translations often.

The problem with AI-aided MT is similar to MTPE: CEOs, project managers, business managers, technology peddlers and other interested parties stubbornly think that they can extract efficiencies (i.e. save money) by somehow standardizing the MTPE or AI-generated translation. Just because a text processed via MTPE or generative AI requires 20 minutes of review or editing doesn't mean all pieces of text translated in any foreign language will require the same 20 minutes. This may be the logical conclusion for us translators, but nontranslators are reticent obstinates who would not hear it.
Collapse


Slama-Clauzel Traductions
Rita Translator
Chris Spurgin
Peter Motte
Yasutomo Kanazawa
Epameinondas Soufleros
Rytis Gedvilas
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 16:05
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
@Jan Jul 17

I have been translating for over 40 years and although over the years work has always been a roller coaster I’ve been noticing since Covid-19 that the ride is even bumpier: a good month is followed by a bad one. So, how were my first 6 months of this year?
January: quite good
February: bad
March: so, so
April: good
May: terrible
June: terrible
July: good, so far
If the work that's been announced for August and September turns out, these will be m
... See more
I have been translating for over 40 years and although over the years work has always been a roller coaster I’ve been noticing since Covid-19 that the ride is even bumpier: a good month is followed by a bad one. So, how were my first 6 months of this year?
January: quite good
February: bad
March: so, so
April: good
May: terrible
June: terrible
July: good, so far
If the work that's been announced for August and September turns out, these will be my best months of the year… Fingers crossed!
Collapse


Max Jeremiah
 
Angie Garbarino
Angie Garbarino  Identity Verified
Local time: 17:05
Member (2003)
French to Italian
+ ...
I do Jul 17

JAN SNAUWAERT wrote:

Hi all,

I have been in the translation business for several years now and have been quite successful, if I may say so myself.
However, this year, something changed and changed quite a lot. I attribute it to the steep rise of AI in the translation business.

Since several months now, my job volume has plumetted drastically. I am only a year and a half away from retirement, so it need not be a disaster financially, but it is far from a fun experience.

Do you, colleague Proz members, experience something similar?


My situation is identical, a part the pension (which is not enough as I have still 8 months to pay for a mortgage) and I also need to avoid a disaster.

[Edited at 2024-07-17 12:13 GMT]


Audrey Wilson
 
Angie Garbarino
Angie Garbarino  Identity Verified
Local time: 17:05
Member (2003)
French to Italian
+ ...
Almost Jul 17

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:

I have been translating for over 40 years and although over the years work has always been a roller coaster I’ve been noticing since Covid-19 that the ride is even bumpier: a good month is followed by a bad one. So, how were my first 6 months of this year?
January: quite good
February: bad
March: so, so
April: good
May: terrible
June: terrible
July: good, so far
If the work that's been announced for August and September turns out, these will be my best months of the year… Fingers crossed!


January: so, so
February: bad
March: so, so
April: bad
May: bad
June: good
July; terrible until now


Audrey Wilson
 
Enrique Bjarne Strand Ferrer
Enrique Bjarne Strand Ferrer
Spain
Local time: 17:05
Member (2017)
English to Norwegian
+ ...
Down Jul 17

Angie Garbarino wrote:

Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida wrote:

I have been translating for over 40 years and although over the years work has always been a roller coaster I’ve been noticing since Covid-19 that the ride is even bumpier: a good month is followed by a bad one. So, how were my first 6 months of this year?
January: quite good
February: bad
March: so, so
April: good
May: terrible
June: terrible
July: good, so far
If the work that's been announced for August and September turns out, these will be my best months of the year… Fingers crossed!


January: so, so
February: bad
March: so, so
April: bad
May: bad
June: good
July; terrible until now


I'm down 28 % so far this year (end of june).


 
JAN SNAUWAERT
JAN SNAUWAERT  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 17:05
Member (2008)
French to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Jul 17

Thank you everyone for your reply.
Most replies confirm more or less what I thought. Yes, of course, the translation business has always been a kind of rollercoaster. However, I find it difficult - or impossible - to ignore that especially since the beginning of this year, we have been feeling the competition from AI particularly strongly. I don't know yet how to adapt to this new situation, but I hope that time will learn (soon, preferably).


Elizabeth Slaney
 
Zea_Mays
Zea_Mays  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 17:05
English to German
+ ...
what's the real cause? Jul 17

JAN SNAUWAERT wrote:

I find it difficult - or impossible - to ignore that especially since the beginning of this year, we have been feeling the competition from AI particularly strongly.


I still think the real cause is the economic slowdown, if you don't like to call it a recession.
Look at the slowly decelerating inflation rates. Take the German economy, it's been down since last year, if not before. The US economy is not doing any better, take out the big tech companies, and you'll see that almost all other sectors are suffering, especially those where you have to make big investments to buy their products (cars, real estate for example for individuals, expensive machines for companies). More and more people is getting into debt, in the US through credit cards. (Today there has been a considerable downturn in IT stocks because of fear of US restrictions on China exports, let's see how the money will be reallocated.)

What I have noticed in the last few weeks is an increase in enquiries through ProZ and my website from very interesting potential clients (mostly agencies), one of whom has already onboarded me to their system for a potential project (fingers crossed). Could this be a sign of a slowly starting recovery? I hope so.

As for my 2024 so far:


January: minimum goal met
February: minimum goal met
March: average goal met
April: below minimum goal
May: slightly below average goal
June: below minimum goal
July so far: weeks 1+2: below minimum goal, week 3: average goal almost met






[Bearbeitet am 2024-07-17 15:55 GMT]


Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Dan Lucas
Chris Spurgin
Stanislaw Czech, MCIL CL
Ines Radionovas-Lagoutte, PhD
Oksana Weiss
 
David GAY
David GAY
Local time: 17:05
English to French
+ ...
shortcut Jul 17

Mario Chávez wrote:


Long time no see. Are you still a translator or have you become a teacher, which as far as I can remember was your goal?
Anyway, 30 years ago, the French Translator association was located at one of the most prestigious addresses in Paris. Nowadays, it's located in very humble city. So I think it perfectly illustrates the current situation in this industry.


 
David GAY
David GAY
Local time: 17:05
English to French
+ ...
decline Jul 17

Angie Garbarino wrote:



My situation is identical, a part the pension (which is not enough as I have still 8 months to pay for a mortgage) and I also need to avoid a disaster.

[Edited at 2024-07-17 12:13 GMT]

So as far as I understand you now earn less than you used to even though you receive a pension. So your pension doesn't even offset the decline of your translation business.

[Edited at 2024-07-17 21:00 GMT]


 
JAN SNAUWAERT
JAN SNAUWAERT  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 17:05
Member (2008)
French to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Economic situation could play a role, but not main reason Jul 18

Zea_Mays wrote:

JAN SNAUWAERT wrote:

I find it difficult - or impossible - to ignore that especially since the beginning of this year, we have been feeling the competition from AI particularly strongly.


I still think the real cause is the economic slowdown, if you don't like to call it a recession.
Look at the slowly decelerating inflation rates. Take the German economy, it's been down since last year, if not before. The US economy is not doing any better, take out the big tech companies, and you'll see that almost all other sectors are suffering, especially those where you have to make big investments to buy their products (cars, real estate for example for individuals, expensive machines for companies). More and more people is getting into debt, in the US through credit cards. (Today there has been a considerable downturn in IT stocks because of fear of US restrictions on China exports, let's see how the money will be reallocated.)

What I have noticed in the last few weeks is an increase in enquiries through ProZ and my website from very interesting potential clients (mostly agencies), one of whom has already onboarded me to their system for a potential project (fingers crossed). Could this be a sign of a slowly starting recovery? I hope so.

As for my 2024 so far:


January: minimum goal met
February: minimum goal met
March: average goal met
April: below minimum goal
May: slightly below average goal
June: below minimum goal
July so far: weeks 1+2: below minimum goal, week 3: average goal almost met

I am afraid the main reason for the big slowdown of the translation industry is not the economic situation. Remember the world recession, or even depression, during the financial crisis of 2008 - 2009? It didn't affect the translation industry, on the contrary, the translation industry was booming.




[Bearbeitet am 2024-07-17 15:55 GMT]


Angie Garbarino
David GAY
Tony Keily
Sabine Braun
Elizabeth Slaney
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 17:05
French to English
. Jul 18

The thing with this economic downturn is that, with money being tight, people are going to try to cut costs using AI, which they couldn't before.

I'm getting less work this year, but it's more because of losing a good client after they had to put out a call for tender (I was working for them as a stop gap while they sorted out how to organise the call for tender, which took them several years!).

I'm crossing my fingers that the new government in France will repeal the
... See more
The thing with this economic downturn is that, with money being tight, people are going to try to cut costs using AI, which they couldn't before.

I'm getting less work this year, but it's more because of losing a good client after they had to put out a call for tender (I was working for them as a stop gap while they sorted out how to organise the call for tender, which took them several years!).

I'm crossing my fingers that the new government in France will repeal the vastly unpopular retirement reforms in which case I can retire next year, otherwise I'll have to eke things out for three more years.
Collapse


 
Not the economy Jul 18

Can I just point out that the economy isn’t that bad at all, and it doesn’t have a direct or universal effect even when it is. Diversify.

Liviu-Lee Roth
Angie Garbarino
Michele Fauble
Tony Keily
 
Pages in topic:   [1 2 3 4 5] >


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:


You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Translation business in a deep slump?







Protemos translation business management system
Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!

The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.

More info »
Pastey
Your smart companion app

Pastey is an innovative desktop application that bridges the gap between human expertise and artificial intelligence. With intuitive keyboard shortcuts, Pastey transforms your source text into AI-powered draft translations.

Find out more »