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Off topic: Has your works affected by corona virus?
Thread poster: Mehmet Çelik
Elena Feriani
Elena Feriani
Italy
Local time: 10:52
Member
French to Italian
+ ...
The str... word Mar 22, 2020

Tom in London wrote:

Elena Feriani wrote:

Jobs are still coming in but an agency has just announced they are going to cut all rates by 15%.


I suspect I know what agency that is. There is no legitimate reason why anyone would cut their rates as a consequence of the coronavirus. Vultures.



I didn't notice the title of your reply was a naughty word. It made me laugh out loud.
Thank you


 
Susanna Martoni
Susanna Martoni  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 10:52
Member (2009)
Spanish to Italian
+ ...
My last patents Mar 22, 2020

Yes, I know I am pessimistic when it comes to (some aspects of) my job.
But three days ago I delivered one of my patents to be translated and at the moment I have no scheduled jobs over the horizon.

I hope that it was not my last job.

Arggg


 
RobinB
RobinB  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 04:52
German to English
Shameless conduct Mar 22, 2020

Elena Feriani wrote:Jobs are still coming in but an agency has just announced they are going to cut all rates by 15%.


If anybody's interested, this shameless conduct is being discussed openly on LinkedIn (no partisan censorship there), where the agency concerned is being publicly shamed (if anybody's not sure which UK-based large agency this refers to, the final part of its name rhymes with t-u-r-d). Photos of their notice to freelance "vendors" have also been posted on LinkedIn. I seem to remember they pulled the same trick during the financial crisis.

Nobody else is reporting this sort of unacceptable conduct by other prominent agencies. There may be less business to go round, sure, but unilaterally cutting rates for freelancers by 15% suggests thin capitalisation (and sheer greed, of course).


DZiW (X)
Elena Feriani
P.L.F. Persio
Laura Kingdon
Kay Denney
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:52
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Where to find? Mar 22, 2020

RobinB wrote:

---- (if anybody's not sure which UK-based large agency this refers to, the final part of its name rhymes with t-u-r-d). Photos of their notice to freelance "vendors" have also been posted on LinkedIn.....


I don't know my way around LinkedIn. Where can I find that discussion?


 
RobinB
RobinB  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 04:52
German to English
LinkedIn Mar 22, 2020

Tom in London wrote:

RobinB wrote:

---- (if anybody's not sure which UK-based large agency this refers to, the final part of its name rhymes with t-u-r-d). Photos of their notice to freelance "vendors" have also been posted on LinkedIn.....


I don't know my way around LinkedIn. Where can I find that discussion?


To give a couple of examples, check out the comments here

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/slator_language-service-providers-respond-to-coronavirus-activity-6646707601029586944-YkoF

and here

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nicolascoyer_karen-tkaczyk-chemistry-translator-on-twitter-activity-6646522174851072000-o4yK

There has also been criticism of a tone-deaf advert by memoQ suggesting "business as usual" for translators because they aren't being affected by Covid-19. memoQ doesn't seem to understand that everybody is being affected, directly or indirectly, and the world won't be the same again.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/memoq-translation-technologies_share-if-you-agree-activity-6646784228220641281-cdbJ


Elena Feriani
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:52
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Thx Mar 22, 2020

RobinB wrote:

links & stuff


Thanks Robin - that's very interesting


 
Robert Rietvelt
Robert Rietvelt  Identity Verified
Local time: 10:52
Member (2006)
Spanish to Dutch
+ ...
My advice Mar 23, 2020

Don't work for agencies that are using big words. I wonder, how much is 15% of peanuts?

 
Elena Feriani
Elena Feriani
Italy
Local time: 10:52
Member
French to Italian
+ ...
I got a lot of peanuts from them. Mar 23, 2020

Robert Rietvelt wrote:

Don't work for agencies that are using big words. I wonder, how much is 15% of peanuts?


Hi Robert,
They accepted the rate I offered in 2018, and since then they've been sending me work consistently and in large volumes every single week. This month alone, I translated over 40,000 words for them. For me 15% of peanuts is a lot of peanuts! I'll negotiate with PMs to have my normal rate, if they send me any other offer (after this public shaming!).

Everybody stay safe, and if you are less busy, try to enjoy some dolce farniente!


 
Paul Dixon
Paul Dixon  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 06:52
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Yes - worse than before Mar 24, 2020

In Brazil there has been a downturn in work over the last five years or so, and this has got much worse indeed with the coronavirus as many companies are closing or at least going online. One of my fields is medical but even this has dried up as there seems to be a preference for volunteer work, especially in COVID-related issues. There has been some work, to be honest, but the problem is the immense financial outlay you need here to keep going, such as condominium charges, state permit fees, ac... See more
In Brazil there has been a downturn in work over the last five years or so, and this has got much worse indeed with the coronavirus as many companies are closing or at least going online. One of my fields is medical but even this has dried up as there seems to be a preference for volunteer work, especially in COVID-related issues. There has been some work, to be honest, but the problem is the immense financial outlay you need here to keep going, such as condominium charges, state permit fees, accountant fees, taxes (we have one hundred and twenty taxes here) and so on - and I haven't even started on tools and software.

However, the big problem is not the coronavirus as this is quite new. The big problem is that the translation profession is not regulated, which means that anyone who spent a week in Disney tries translation, often as a solution after losing their jobs in other areas. This, of course, leads to declining rates. One person said to me: 'I'm doing translations to get money to study in Europe', so you get the idea, no professionalism at all.

And my main pair, which is Portuguese to English, is saturated to a point where 500 candidates apply for one job. I applied for a job on a translation portal, sent my bid one minute after it was posted, and I was too late.
Collapse


Susanna Martoni
Tradwind (X)
 
Ya Fu
Ya Fu
Australia
More demand in health services and education, but less in trading and tourism Mar 25, 2020

I'm in Australia. Since government banned China from beginning of February, there were no more tourists coming in so the demand crashed. Also product import and export are stuck. As government has not closed schools, new immigrants who need interpretation service to talk to teachers are still requesting services. For countries like Australia that many immigrants are living in, if the virus spread fast and more people will be sent into hospital, they still will ask for interpreting services. Mayb... See more
I'm in Australia. Since government banned China from beginning of February, there were no more tourists coming in so the demand crashed. Also product import and export are stuck. As government has not closed schools, new immigrants who need interpretation service to talk to teachers are still requesting services. For countries like Australia that many immigrants are living in, if the virus spread fast and more people will be sent into hospital, they still will ask for interpreting services. Maybe the channel can change to online or via telephone to avoid any human contact.Collapse


 
Paul Dixon
Paul Dixon  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 06:52
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Blocked video Mar 25, 2020

The video posted by Tom in London has been blocked. Why?

 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 09:52
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Not me Mar 26, 2020

Paul Dixon wrote:

The video posted by Tom in London has been blocked. Why?


I didn't post it. I was replying to the person who did.


 
Elena Feriani
Elena Feriani
Italy
Local time: 10:52
Member
French to Italian
+ ...
Blocked in some countries Mar 26, 2020

Paul Dixon wrote:

The video posted by Tom in London has been blocked. Why?


Hi Paul, it's available in Italy. It must be a copyright issue.


 
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