| Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4 5] > | Are any other translators having a quiet period workwise? Thread poster: Rose Webb
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I translate from French and Italian into English and get my work from 5 or 6 different agencies in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Italy. When I first started working as a freelancer in 2019 I was practically run off my feet with work- I remember at one point I worked for three weeks without having a full day off (not recommended, but worth mentioning to illustrate my point).
However, I've noticed that in the past few years the volume of work I've been receiving has f... See more I translate from French and Italian into English and get my work from 5 or 6 different agencies in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Italy. When I first started working as a freelancer in 2019 I was practically run off my feet with work- I remember at one point I worked for three weeks without having a full day off (not recommended, but worth mentioning to illustrate my point).
However, I've noticed that in the past few years the volume of work I've been receiving has fluctuated a lot more rather than being steady like it was when I started out.
In particular, September and October for me this year have been really quiet and when I do get offered work it's always for very short documents (e.g. £50 to £100 per job). I know that the summer months tend to be slow for my language pairs, but this year the slow period seems to have extended into the autumn months and it's getting a little concerning. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I've earned no money at all in these past couple of months, I've just earned a lot less than usual and I'm not really sure why.
I'd be interested to hear from any other translators who are experiencing something similar (or even from those who aren't!), especially those working in my language pairs.
[Edited at 2023-10-23 14:47 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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The machines are taking over parts of the market
More foreigners are writing in English
Is my impression
I’ve had less in than usual the past few months
It could just be one of those periodic blips
But agencies have been getting meaner and meaner for years now
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I've been working less in translation in the last 6 months than in the previous 15 years. It has to be AI taking its share. I've had clients disappear for no particular reason. Even in the cases where I am the preferred and recommended translator for certain journals, I've seen others undercut my rate by up to 40%. It's AI assisted without a doubt because the rates are simply not sustainable. But I've diversified. We have to adapt.
| | | | texjax DDS PhD 
Local time: 18:57
Member (2006)
English to Italian
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This thread is anything but off topic.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| This cannot possibly be off topic! | Oct 23, 2023 |
texjax DDS PhD wrote:
This thread is anything but off topic.
It's very much ON topic !
Incidentally I don't blame AI. I blame profit maximisation by humans, in which AI may play a role as a tool, but hasn't profit maximisation always used tools?
[Edited at 2023-10-23 20:00 GMT]
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The last six months have been significantly worse than anything I've seen for many years.
Apart from AI/MT, many of the European economies are not doing very well, Germany in particularly, which is in recession.
The dramatic interest rate increase seems to have caused a widespread business activity slowdown. This increase happened very quickly. An impact from AI/MT would most likely be more gradual. Trouble brewing around the world causes uncertainty and doesn't help.... See more The last six months have been significantly worse than anything I've seen for many years.
Apart from AI/MT, many of the European economies are not doing very well, Germany in particularly, which is in recession.
The dramatic interest rate increase seems to have caused a widespread business activity slowdown. This increase happened very quickly. An impact from AI/MT would most likely be more gradual. Trouble brewing around the world causes uncertainty and doesn't help.
Other colleagues say they are as busy as ever. A recent poll gave a bleak picture, though. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Cecília Alves
Argentina
Local time: 20:57
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
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| This may be applied to any language pair | Oct 23, 2023 |
I think this problem may be applied to any language pair worldwide. My flow of work was actually about 2X more in the bleak years of the pandemic and in 2022 than it's been throughout this whole year so far. While I think MT/AI plays a great part on this quiet period experienced by many of us, I also agree with what Thomas T. Frost says about the role played by the business activity slowdown in Europe due to the economic downturn faced by most countries (which, in turn, has been less severe in t... See more I think this problem may be applied to any language pair worldwide. My flow of work was actually about 2X more in the bleak years of the pandemic and in 2022 than it's been throughout this whole year so far. While I think MT/AI plays a great part on this quiet period experienced by many of us, I also agree with what Thomas T. Frost says about the role played by the business activity slowdown in Europe due to the economic downturn faced by most countries (which, in turn, has been less severe in the US, I suppose).
[Edited at 2023-10-24 00:09 GMT]
[Edited at 2023-10-24 15:12 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:57
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Secular trend - MT/AI proving itself to be "good enough" for many tasks, leading to vulnerable translators becoming disintermediated.
Cyclical trend - slowing or even negative economic growth in some countries, as companies respond to slowing demand (inflation and higher interest rates) by trying to rein... See more Secular trend - MT/AI proving itself to be "good enough" for many tasks, leading to vulnerable translators becoming disintermediated.
Cyclical trend - slowing or even negative economic growth in some countries, as companies respond to slowing demand (inflation and higher interest rates) by trying to rein in spending and control expenses, including translation.
Dan ▲ Collapse
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Lingua 5B
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 00:57
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
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Tom in London wrote:
texjax DDS PhD wrote:
This thread is anything but off topic.
It's very much ON topic !
Incidentally I don't blame AI. I blame profit maximisation by humans, in which AI may play a role as a tool, but hasn't profit maximisation always used tools? [Edited at 2023-10-23 20:00 GMT]
Correct. Profit maximization is for those NOT using the tool, while profit minimization is for those using the tool, eg. at sweatshops and factories (owner vs. employees).
| | | | | Not right now, but | Oct 24, 2023 |
I have been noticing that the work pattern is more than ever entirely or mostly unpredictable. Anyway, as I have been translating for over 40 years this is not my first crisis: keep calm and carry on!
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 02:57
Member
English to Turkish
| Nothing new there | Oct 24, 2023 |
Ice Scream wrote:
More foreigners are writing in English
Almost 80% of the things I translate from English to Turkish are written by western Europeans. I'm currently translating some articles written by the French where I genuinely fear (as good as the money is) if I keep doing this my English will regress to a point where I won't be able to enjoy my favorite Netflix series like "How I Met Your Mother". It's a worry really... things we do for money..
Btw, I've recently learned that the new Trados manual was written by a Swedish person (you know those folk who think they speak/write better English than your good self). It's been praised by a Brit who maintains that foreigners do a lot better job at explaining complicated stuff (apparently in English) than expert native speakers. The description says "It is a manual written for the translator by a translator." God help us.
So before blaming the AI, you should blame Rule Britannia 
[Edited at 2023-10-24 08:21 GMT]
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:57
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| Slowdown in economic activity | Oct 24, 2023 |
Thomas T. Frost wrote:
.... many of the European economies are not doing very well .....
I'm no economist but my instinct suggests there has been a generalised slowdown in economic activity that began before the pandemic, which exacerbated it. Now there's a recovery that is also a reconfiguration. Things are changing.
In the field that generates much, though not all of my translation work (construction/architecture/real estate/and similar) I do know there has been a big slowdown as compared to the types of documents I used to translate before and that arrived in vast quantities.
However the international construction sector (outside Europe) seems quite lively, and this is generating some work for me.
The luxury sector always booms when there's a recession (funny, that, isn't it?). So in my fields, luxury construction (things like upmarket new homes or refurbishments in expensive locations, architecture and interior design magazines serving a luxury readership) is continuing to generate translation work. Some, but not exactly an avalanche.
In my opinion, AI is a red herring in all of this. It plays a role, but not a very important one. Because AI is The Big New Thing, everybody thinks everything that happens is being caused by it. This is causing the other things that influence economic activity to be underestimated.
[Edited at 2023-10-24 08:14 GMT]
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| Hiding in plain sight | Oct 24, 2023 |
Tom in London wrote:
In my opinion, AI is a red herring in all of this. It plays a role, but not a very important one. Because AI is The Big New Thing, everybody thinks everything that happens is being caused by it. This is causing the other things that influence economic activity to be underestimated.
You may be right, but my workload is largely immune to variations in economic activity, and the Scandies aren't exactly struggling anyway.
I'm normally reluctant to extrapolate variations in the workload of one person to trends in the global market, but I've seen enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that machine translation and people using AI to improve their written English are a factor.
My one global agency client is putting as much stuff as possible through MT.
And frankly translators using MT/AI "as a tool" are probably not helping us dinosaurs.
| | | | | 'Eurozone at risk of recession as business activity hits three-year low' | Oct 24, 2023 |
'The eurozone could be headed for recession after new data showed business activity in the bloc is at its lowest level in three years.
'S&P Global’s PMI slumped to 46.5 in October – well below the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction and the worst level since November 2020.
'Excluding the Covid-hit months, it was the lowest reading since March 2013.
'Rising interest rates, ... See more
'The eurozone could be headed for recession after new data showed business activity in the bloc is at its lowest level in three years.
'S&P Global’s PMI slumped to 46.5 in October – well below the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction and the worst level since November 2020.
'Excluding the Covid-hit months, it was the lowest reading since March 2013.
'Rising interest rates, a slowdown in global activity and a potential resurgence of the energy crisis due to the conflict in the Middle East are all taking their toll, and analysts warned the eurozone may now slip into recession.'
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/10/24/ftse-100-markets-news-latest-jobs-interest-rates-uk-economy/
(no paywall) ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Cost cutting. But well BEYOND reasonable limits. | Oct 24, 2023 |
You just CAN'T translate heavy technical stuff or elaborate marketing copies in bullshit tools that work like this:
"Really huge volumes of texts from all technical fields - coming in and going out after being given a 1-minute check per full page of text - playground for bad translators, beginners and students who can pick up editing jobs and practice on them any time they want, for a bit of pocket money. - Crowdsourcing system - once in the system, whoever feels like working can g... See more You just CAN'T translate heavy technical stuff or elaborate marketing copies in bullshit tools that work like this:
"Really huge volumes of texts from all technical fields - coming in and going out after being given a 1-minute check per full page of text - playground for bad translators, beginners and students who can pick up editing jobs and practice on them any time they want, for a bit of pocket money. - Crowdsourcing system - once in the system, whoever feels like working can go to the portal at any time and pick up a job from the current queue, and gets a mix from all sorts of fields and topics to play with.
- Delivers horrible translations. Quality work is impossible due to extreme time restrictions and low payment. - Texts and linguists are not matched. Anyone on the panel can do anything in the job queue, without consideration of skills, qualification or specialization. - Recruits amateur linguists with the promise "You can earn up to $18 per hour!" This is obviously an unacceptable rate for any professional linguist, although I must say they paid me $31 per hour, so don't hesitate to ask for more if you are a qualified professional and want to try them out. However, actually only a small part of your time is really paid, because (A) you have to read the job instructions (unpaid), (B) then you can do some work on a full page of text (1 minute paid), (C) then you have a minute of grace to continue the work (1 minute unpaid) and (D) if you hesitate to submit the unfinished work in time you lose the 1-minute payment altogether. - The technical system often has glitches and faults (you can't access work, or submit work done, or you get wrong language pairs offered, etc). - Communication with the "support team" is very slow. It can take days to get a reply if you report a problem. - Communication with clients is not possible, the linguist cannot make them aware of mistakes in the source texts or ask questions for clarification. - The only communication platform for exchange with colleagues is in a closed Facebook group and you can get "fired" if you criticize the company there. - The company leaders and the "support team" are not linguists themselves and they give bad advice to the clients, for example to address the readers "informally". They also enter translations full of mistakes into their AI-driven translation machines and make them "non-editable", so the mistakes cannot be fixed, ever. The leadership totally ignores fault reports and advice given by their linguists regarding errors and mistakes, and does not correct them. - Altogether, the platform is perhaps useful as a playground for AI, IT and language students, but definitely not ready to serve corporate clients."
And yet it may happen. A "system" that is suitable for FAQs and chat messages may be used to translate BLOODY COMPLICATED things that require BLOODY EDUCATION. What would end it? Somebody's DEATH after "blackened steel" is translated as "carbon steel" by a BLOODY WAITER or BLOODY MOST ADVANCED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EVER? Maybe, maybe not. ▲ Collapse
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