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Worldwide crisis = higher demand for translation services?
Thread poster: Viktoria Gimbe
Viktoria Gimbe
Viktoria Gimbe  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 18:21
English to French
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TOPIC STARTER
And your point is? Feb 28, 2009

Arnaud HERVE wrote:

Viktoria, does a forum for literate adults have to consist of, on the one hand, positive minded persons who post exclusively positive experiences, and on the other hand, raving lunatics who talk about the end of the world?

In other words, why does it seem impossible to have a normal conversation here?


Because it would appear that some people seem to be uninterested in normal conversation. Had you read the initial post properly, you would be aware that people with negative experiences were also invited to share their views. People were also politely asked to state their experiences, not how incredibly happy they are or how scared to death they are. People who prefer to pick on others with no apparent reason, on the other hand, were not invited. I thought literate adults had the ability to refrain from that type of behaviour.

So, do you have anything to contribute to the topic? Two posts so far but the topic hasn't even been touched upon yet. Can we get back to it now?


 
Kevin Lossner
Kevin Lossner  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 22:21
German to English
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Meanwhile, on the other end of the market.... Feb 28, 2009

Of course if da money ain't dere, it ain't dere and some companies will risk their reputations by moving to cheaper translators, taking advantage of the easy life that translators in Peru have or whatever. That's no revelation. In common language pairs, it's probably the translators who are in the middle price segment who will be hit by this. (Just a theory, no data to back this up at this point.) Translators caught in the squeeze have choices, but these choices are limited by their individual s... See more
Of course if da money ain't dere, it ain't dere and some companies will risk their reputations by moving to cheaper translators, taking advantage of the easy life that translators in Peru have or whatever. That's no revelation. In common language pairs, it's probably the translators who are in the middle price segment who will be hit by this. (Just a theory, no data to back this up at this point.) Translators caught in the squeeze have choices, but these choices are limited by their individual situations.

Some can tread water, perhaps by expanding the network of clients. If five clients were enough to live off before, but now they are giving an average of 40% of the workload previously received, maybe now 12 clients are needed. Same workload, better distributed, better security. Go for 20 - even better, just in case.

If that doesn't work - or even if it does - for the ones who can deliver top quality, now is the time to go up market. It's not disloyalty to give your capacity to new customers who will pay more and appreciate your work better. In some cases, this can even help finance nice, old relationships that may not be paying the electric bill any more.

If the squeezees can't make the quality cut, there is that Other Option. Slumming. Go downmarket. Pretend that Peru has come to Paris and "do what you must". A middleweight who starts boxing in the bantam class will probably deliver a lot of knockouts, and in the same way these trickled down translators should have a little easier time in their "new home", though the hours will be much longer perhaps. But as Les Misérables and other depictions of life in earlier times show, things have been worse, and I doubt we'll be returning to that level. Moving to Peru or Goa is always an option - many of us have family backgrounds which include migration for economic reasons and research indicates that mine is rather typical in that sense. What grandpa had to do, some of us may have to do again in the other direction. But a good translator working very cheap may in any case experience a higher demand. The question I ask, though, is that as long as there are alternatives, why bother?. In another thread, Rod suggested some of the "whys", but the discussion of them belongs there.
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Eric Hahn (X)
Eric Hahn (X)  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 23:21
French to German
+ ...
Can a crisis ever be a good thing ? Feb 28, 2009

"Worldwide crisis = higher demand for translation services"

If this equation is true, let's hope for a long-lasting crisis !

But I don't think it is, at least not for most of us (for example, those who specialised in patent writings and the automotive industry). The only thing to do in this case, I think, is to adapt to the economic reality and to reorient your fields towards sectors with a more promising future, as Kevin stated.



[Edited at 2009-02-
... See more
"Worldwide crisis = higher demand for translation services"

If this equation is true, let's hope for a long-lasting crisis !

But I don't think it is, at least not for most of us (for example, those who specialised in patent writings and the automotive industry). The only thing to do in this case, I think, is to adapt to the economic reality and to reorient your fields towards sectors with a more promising future, as Kevin stated.



[Edited at 2009-02-28 10:07 GMT]
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Kevin Lossner
Kevin Lossner  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 22:21
German to English
+ ...
No. Feb 28, 2009

Eric Hahn wrote:

"Worldwide crisis = higher demand for translation services"

If this equation is true, let's hope for a long-lasting crisis !



Sorry, that's one statement you won't hear from me. While I welcome some of the re-thinking this may provoke in our sector, which will ultimately be to the benefit of all good, serious translators who survive or are forced to leave for a while but return later, I will not wish for any long-lasting state of misery. Rod likes to wallow in the tragedy of pearl producers downsizing their pearls or glove manufacturers stuck with too much inventory - a sign, I suppose, of the affluent society in which he lives and the different nature of the problems perceived - but when I reflect on the current situation and, for example, the loss of about 700,000 jobs in the US in February, I think of cancer surgeries delayed because of the loss of health insurance, children's dental appointments skipped, higher incidence of mental illness and family violence and a lot more. Maybe some actual starvation, though this won't make it into the newspapers much. No amount of greater focus on quality by my customers or higher demand for my services - at any price - will make me happy about the general situation, because I can't solve it by pontificating or passing out quarters in the subway.

What I will do is try to understand the situation, and to the extent that I can understand it take action within the scope of my effectiveness to make whatever little difference I can. It might not be much. And I'll try to refrain from doing actual harm while I'm at it. I won't - except in jest perhaps - encourage anyone to wallow in the mud puddle of misery and make silly general excuses about capitalism or whatever. I don't think anyone in a difficult situation can afford clichés about any of the "isms". Those capable of thinking should think carefully about their situations, and when they think they understand, think again, perhaps consult others as a sanity check, and take whatever legal and ethical action they deem appropriate. I personally don't care if that involves cutting prices or raising them, adding language teaching or journalism to the mix, male prostitution (legal in Germany, and taxed of course) or flipping burgers. We're all adults and we should do what we do best or what we must to meet our responsibilities. And, whether we live in democracies or in dictatorships, we are all free to "enjoy" whatever delusions we may be afflicted with.


 
Mihai Badea (X)
Mihai Badea (X)  Identity Verified
Luxembourg
English to Romanian
+ ...
Locking the thread Feb 28, 2009

I’m sorry for having to do that, but because of how this thread developed, I’m locking it. Thank your for your understanding.

 
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Worldwide crisis = higher demand for translation services?







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