Poll: Do you agree that translation rates are declining in general? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you agree that translation rates are declining in general?".
This poll was originally submitted by Miseon Lee. View the poll results »
| | | | DZiW (X)
Ukraine
English to Russian
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While I'm working mostly as an interpreter with local direct client (who raise my rates) and don't care about agency-oriented prices, I think such a decrease has little to do with the economic performance, living standards and trends, but rather low biz awareness, low self-esteem, low requirements, and so on.
And what would middlemen (aka agencies) do, if the [vast] majority of freelance translators set $0.35/w as a minimum rate--a sudden economic miracle?)
| | | | | Since we set our own rates..... | Feb 21, 2019 |
... they only decline if we decide to lower our rates. And why would we do that? 
| | | | John Fossey 
Canada
Local time: 16:33
Member (2008)
French to English
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In my observation over the past decade, I believe that many of the bottom-feeders have gone out of business. I have little trouble keeping busy at my rates, generally a little higher than the market average, and some direct clients are happy to pay much more than market average.
So, no, I don't agree that translation rates are declining in general.
On the other hand, I think there is a general demand for better quality.
[Edited at 2019-02-21 22:29 GMT]
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| A "polarisation" of sorts | Feb 21, 2019 |
For the overcrowded bottom segment of the market, I would say yes. But for those willing to specialise, it's still possible to command good rates from agencies.
| | | | Mario Freitas
Brazil
Local time: 18:33
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
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| I'm not sure, but I don't think so | Feb 22, 2019 |
I don't see rates declining.
What I see clearly is a trend to try to apply discounts of all sorts and push PEMT jobs over us. I've been bravely reluctant against these so far, but I'm not sure how long I will be able to resist.
I surely haven't seen a readjustment or "raise" for many years, despite the at least 6% yearly inflation in my country. So, in that sense, the purchasing power of my rates has been declining for sure, although the absolute value hasn't.
| | | | Ana Vozone
Local time: 21:33
Member (2010)
English to Portuguese
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they are declining, if they do not increase regularly, i.e., if they remain the same for years...
I am offered increasingly low rates by new clients (which I obviously refuse, usually with a note saying "What would my longtime clients who pay me twice as much think if I accepted to work for these rates?"
| | | | Muriel Vasconcellos (X)
United States
Local time: 13:33
Spanish to English
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I have recently been offered rates that were being paid 40 years ago.
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First of all, I set my own rates and as long as my long-standing clients are willing to pay those rates everything will be fine. Early this morning I was offered a project for less than half my usual rate and the potential client seemed rather shocked when I said “Thanks, but no thanks”. I translate from English, French, Italian and Spanish into Portuguese and I’ve been noticing a big difference regarding some language pairs. While customers with projects in EN-PT or FR-PT are willing to p... See more First of all, I set my own rates and as long as my long-standing clients are willing to pay those rates everything will be fine. Early this morning I was offered a project for less than half my usual rate and the potential client seemed rather shocked when I said “Thanks, but no thanks”. I translate from English, French, Italian and Spanish into Portuguese and I’ve been noticing a big difference regarding some language pairs. While customers with projects in EN-PT or FR-PT are willing to pay my rates, the number of clients willing to pay my rates for ES-PT and IT-PT is getting lower each year. ▲ Collapse
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I see a big difference between agencies and direct clients.
I raise my rates for direct clients every year without problems, but I am now too pricey for all but the most specialised agency work.
Agency rates have definitely not kept up with inflation over the past 15 years.
| | | | Chié_JP
Japan
Local time: 06:33
Member (2013)
English to Japanese
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No for my own environment.
I see translation agencies in India or SE Asia region keep offering 0.01USD per source word and does not even pay in full anyway - no room for "decline" in that case. And sometimes ProZ is happy to support them when they want to post jobs. ProZ is a paid platform, how come they afford to maintain ProZ staff's living at that rate? Crime?
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Not sure. It depends on the translator and the client anyway.
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| Leading question | Feb 22, 2019 |
I think that a poll with a leading question like "do you agree with what I say or do you dare to have a different opinion" is not very meaningful. Please ask open questions.
Apart from that, is there anyone who can answer this question "in general"? Are there any general and well founded statistics about translation rates to be found anywhere? That would be quite interesting. But the translation market and even the definition of "translation" seems to be very fragmented, every langu... See more I think that a poll with a leading question like "do you agree with what I say or do you dare to have a different opinion" is not very meaningful. Please ask open questions.
Apart from that, is there anyone who can answer this question "in general"? Are there any general and well founded statistics about translation rates to be found anywhere? That would be quite interesting. But the translation market and even the definition of "translation" seems to be very fragmented, every language pair and field is different and the translation market also splits up into several quality levels, from MT to "light" and "full" post editing to amateur translation to professional translation and so on. You could easily think that rates are declining if you believe that the trend goes to more "amateur" or "automatic" translation, but on the other hand, there is a rapid growth in the sheer amount of content to translate, and the capacity and time of professional translators simply cannot cope with this growth, which means that the rates for professional human translation have to rise, and this is what I see from my personal experience, but it might be different in other language pairs and fields. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | The Cost Of Everything ELSE Goes Up, So Why... | Feb 22, 2019 |
Muriel Vasconcellos wrote:
I have recently been offered rates that were being paid 40 years ago.
I still get asked to translate books at a lower rate than what I earned for the first one I did way back in 1980.
Since the cost of everything else, necessities like food, housing, etc., goes up at what seems, at the least, like regular intervals, why shouldn't our rates?
Any reasonable client should be able to understand that, but I think that they usually look for the cheapest way out.
Some might say that that's just human nature.
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