Global Watchtower says sky not falling on freelancers

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Global Watchtower says sky not falling on freelancers

May 7, 2009 by Corinne McKay

Keep Calm and Carry On seems to be the takeaway from Global Watchtower’s recent survey of 277 freelance language professionals. When asked about the fourth quarter of 2008, more than three quarters of respondents said that their business was either good or satisfactory, despite that quarter’s distinction as the most financially disastrous in recent history. Better yet, although “large numbers” of respondents reported feeling pressured to lower their rates, more than three quarters said that they did not plan to charge less during the upcoming quarter. You can read a summary of the survey’s results on the Global Watchtower website, or register there to receive a free copy of the full results.

Posted in Translation industry news | 8 Comments

8 Responses

on May 7, 2009 at 9:14 pm | Reply Kevin Lossner

No surprise there.
on May 8, 2009 at 7:09 pm | Reply Michael

Among the group of freelance translators I know personally from frequent collaboration over the years, many would disagree with this result. It seems that for quite a few of them, with few or no jobs so far in 2009, the sky already has fallen. I am aware that I am talking about an unscientific sample, and with so many factors contributing to success or failure it is difficult to generalize, but I am inclined to take surveys such as the one you write about with more than a grain of salt.
on May 8, 2009 at 9:50 pm | Reply Judy Jenner

That’s some good news in the middle of a bleak economy. Thanks for sharing. I only have anecdotal data, of course, but many folks’ results for the last quarter vary widely. I think it might be a tough year for all of us, but staying positive, doing innovative marketing, and expanding your reach are things we should all be doing.
on May 8, 2009 at 10:32 pm | Reply yndigo

Corinne,

My findings — though also not scientific — concur with the survey you cite.

I know we’ve been getting more resumes and more translators calling to ask about work — even those who are usually busy when we call them. So things have changed. For agencies too.

Our clients have been doing some cost cutting; they seem to be waiting until they HAVE to get something done (even more than usual).

But there is still lots and lots of work out there however it doesn’t arrive in the same size, or language pairs, or frequency. Japanese and German seem to be down; Spanish and French and Italian seem to be up. Again, very unscientific. But in Legal translation, a few major — urgent — cases can have every translator in a language pair busy for months, while for other pairs the crickets are chirping.

Overall though, I’m convinced freelancers in general are faring better through this economy than the salaried folks who, even in the most secure places, think they may be next. Companies have let go a LOT of people — translation agencies too from what I’ve heard — but there’s still work and they still have to get it done. I know one agency that said last fall, OK, all editing and proofreading will now be done in-house. But then they let staff go and had to give even more work to freelancers.

So I say it’s a good time to be a translator.
- on May 28, 2009 at 11:02 am | Reply miriam
  
  @yndigo:
  As a freelance translator, let me tell you: this is most definitely not a good time to be a translator. Compared to the same time period last year, my business is down 70 per cent. Yes. Seventy. Which means I cannot even pay my taxes now, let alone live.
  That, despite the fact that I am a qualified translator, known to be fast, reliable and delivering first-rate quality; despite the fact that I have been chasing clients, been added to databases, asked my regular clients for jobs on a daily basis; despite my marketing efforts and my wasting money on memberships on prestigious translation sites; and despite the fact that a freelancer has the luxury of being able to work internationally with clients from all over the globe.
  
  The answer is always the same: We don’t have anything. The result is always the same: No jobs whatsoever.
  
  Five more months of this and I’ll jump out the window…
on May 9, 2009 at 8:19 am | Reply Umfrage: Entwicklung des Geschäftsjahres 2008

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on May 16, 2009 at 6:41 pm | Reply Yaron Kaufman

Sky not falling on freelancers, and will never fall. The demand for translations is on a constant increase, and you can see the predictions for the years to come on common sense website as well. The reason for the expansion is the increasing need to communicate internationally. Customers, naturally, do demand lower rates when business goes slow.