Univ.Prof.Dr.PeterA.

Schmitt

Translatorsonaglobalmarket:
Actorsorvictims?
CIUTIForumGeneva
2011

CIUTI Forum UNO Genf

2012

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Translationmarket

Turnover of thetranslation industry intheEU

Growth rate 10% p.a.

conservative estimate 16.5 billion EUR by 2015
real value to be expected well above 20 billion by 2015

(European Commission, Study on the size of the language industry in the EU)
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/publications/studies/size_of_language_industry_en.pdf
CIUTI Forum UNO Genf
2012

(c) P.A.Schmitt, Univ. Leipzig IALT

Globalization
Outsourcing
Teleworking
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(c) P.A.Schmitt, Univ. Leipzig IALT

Frankfurt

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CIUTI Forum UNO Genf

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Worldwidevisibility

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ProZ.com

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TraduGuide

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Uebersetzervergleich.de

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WorldwideWiFi Internetaccess
e.g.inOkonjima(Namibia)

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Result:Globalcompetition
Translators may sit anywhere

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Moneymakes the world go round

Afew remarks ontranslation prices

Theory vs.reality

Theory
BDsamplecalculation for aminimum(!)
gross (before tax)income of afreelance
translator

49/h
1.63/line
7,840/month
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2012

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prices perhour monthly income

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Reality
e.g.chief physician,
medical director:
8,159

e.g.specialist for surgery:

6,033

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2012

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Berufspraxis
realeEinkommenssituation

Reality:

monthly gross income of employed translators

in Germany: 2,350

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2012

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Incomeof IALTgraduates
Graduates of 2003through 2008,Surveyin2010
e.g.survey limitedto graduates who are 2to 7years onthejob market
30
25
20

Average(!) income:
28,013 Euros p.a.
before tax
= 2,334 /month

15
10
5
0
<5

5bis10 11bis15 16bis20 21bis25 26bis30 31bis35 36bis40 41bis45 46bis50 51bis55 56bis60

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(c) P.A.Schmitt, Univ. Leipzig IALT

>60

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Reality
Case1:Corporateclient,globalplayer,huge
annual translation demand,xlation service
completely outsourced
client deals with translation agencies only
client typically pays 1.15/line*to agency
agency delegates jobs to translators
either inhouse:typical salary 1,5002,500/month
or freelance:usu.30%less than clients price,i.e.0.80/line
*plusVAT;inGermany19%

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2012

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prices perline monthly income

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2012

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Rent inGermany(/m)

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Reality
Case2:Privateclient (this week)
translation of one page from acar owners
manual,engger
6TSPasked to submit anoffer
2outof 6responded:
one freelancer charged flatfee 35 (=8.5cents/word)
one translation agency charged 8cents/word

Both translations were useless,

partially utter nonsense
CIUTI Forum UNO Genf
2012

(c) P.A.Schmitt, Univ. Leipzig IALT

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TSPAgency
ACHTUNG:DasUmschaltenindieStellungPARKEN(P)oderNEUTRAL(N)
beivollbelastetemMotor(FahrenbeihoherGeschwindigkeit)istgefhrlich.
SofernsichIhrFunichtentschiedenaufdem Bremspedalbefindet,kann
sichIhrFahrzeuguerstschnellbewegen.SieknntendieKontrolle
verlierenundgegenMenschenoderGegenstndefahren.
HINWEIS:
BeschdigungenanIhremGetriebe,diedurchdasUmschaltenindie
StellungPARKEN(P)oderNEUTRAL(N)beivollbelastetemMotorentstehen,
sindnichtdurchIhreGarantieabgedeckt.
AUTOMATISCHERSCHONGANG(D):DieseStellungdientdemnormalen
Fahren.
DRITTERGANG (3):DieseStellungwirdebenfallsfrdasnormaleFahren
verwendet,bietetjedochmehrLeistungundeinegeringere
Kraftstoffeinsparung
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Freelancer
Es wird keine Haftung fr eine Beschdigung Ihres
Getriebes durch Schalten aus der Position PARKEN (P)
oder NEUTRAL (N) bernommen, wenn Sie mit hoher
Geschwindigkeit fahren.
SCHONGANG (AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE, D): Diese
Position eignet sich fr normales Fahren.
DRITTER GANG (THIRD, 3): Diese Position wird ebenfalls
fr normales Fahren verwendet, aber sie bietet mehr
Leistung und es wird weniger Kraftstoff verbraucht als in
der Position SCHONGANG (AUTOMATIC OVERDRIVE,
D).
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2012

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Reality
SoTHISis what anunaware client gets and
pays for:
auseless document (at 40/page)
atranslation which confirms the widespread
notion that
translations are unreliable,bad,even nonsensical
translators deserve to be badly paid
translators are notinthe sameleague as,e.g.,
engineers,lawyers,surgeons,webdesigners,
CIUTI Forum UNO Genf
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CIUTI Forum UNO Genf

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Outsourcingto India

Indie
n

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ClientsPerspective
Pricedoes notreflect quality
Locationof TSPs office is no indicator of
translation quality
Theprofession name translatoris unrelated
to translation quality
TSPwebsite claims are practically irrelevant
(only qualified nativespeakers,proofread by experts,
quality assurance according to ISO9000,DINEN15038)
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Consequences
clients tend to place orders with the cheapest
supplier (e.g.inIndia)
translators charging higher prices often price
themselves outof the market
because there is almost always somebody who
offers the (seemingly same)service at alower
price
some clients turnto T&Iinstitutes,asking for
translations by students
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Conclusion
or:sowhat can we do?
Isee 4options inorder of feasibility:
Option1:
wait.until globalization has reached all
economies around the globe,establishing the
sameincome/price levels everywhere
this may take awhile,like 501000years

CIUTI Forum UNO Genf

2012

(c) P.A.Schmitt, Univ. Leipzig IALT

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Conclusion
or:sowhat can we do?
Option2:
establish translatoras alegally protected
name for properly trained,competent,
examined translators
obviously this would work best onaglobal,
internationalscale,inmany languages
butdoing it onanationalbasis would be agood
start
CIUTI Forum UNO Genf
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Conclusion
or:sowhat can we do?
Option3:
increase general awareness (at leastamong
potentialT&Iclients)of the competencies
expected and provided by professional
translators
this is next to hopeless,butwe should try

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2012

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Conclusion
or:sowhat can we do?
Option4 step 1:
improve training of translators to ensure that
graduates of T&Iinstitutes have aclear
competitive edge over other competitors.This
happens already:
CIUTI(since 1960)
EMT(since 2009)

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2012

(c) P.A.Schmitt, Univ. Leipzig IALT

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Conclusion
or:sowhat can we do?
Option4 step 2:
communicate everywhere that graduates from
CIUTIand EMTT&Iinstitutes are much more
likely than others to provide useful T&I
services ANDthat they deserve payment at
the samelevel as other professionalswith a
mastersdegree
one forum for this is the annual Tekom conference
with its 3500participants
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(c) P.A.Schmitt, Univ. Leipzig IALT

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CIUTIand EUDGTat Tekom/tcworld

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