| Страници во темата: [1 2] > | Poll: At this time, are you mainly experiencing... Лице кое објавува дискусија: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "At this time, are you mainly experiencing...".
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| | | | Alex Lichanow
Германија
Local time: 21:13
англиски на германски
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| Mental fatigue | Nov 30, 2025 |
It is exhausting to see how people are blindly accepting the tech and translation industries' blatant, transparent lies and gaslighting as the truth. How grinning suit wearers with no useful skills are getting all the engagement on antisocial media. How climate goals are being put on the backburner in favor of the new data centers we all need™ so much.
| | | | Gregor Trebec
Словенија
Local time: 21:13
англиски на словенечки
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| job uncertainty | Nov 30, 2025 |
Job uncertainty or lack of it.
| | | | | enough work! | Nov 30, 2025 |
I am grateful to still continue having a good amount of work, and I hope that I can continue like that for the next year. For those who are struggling in the language service profession, I think that diversifying is an excellent way to continue working on what we like. Do not give up!
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| Job uncertainty | Nov 30, 2025 |
Work has been so scarce that I almost wish I had burnout as a problem. Having worked in translation for over 40 years, I have been through other crises and survived, but none like this one. There may be several causes for a crisis, but they are usually supported by two main pillars: fear and anxiety. Let's say that the current climate of instability and war is conducive to this and hope for the best…
| | | | Lieven Malaise 
Белгија
Local time: 21:13
Член (2020)
француски на холандски
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| Mental fatigue | Nov 30, 2025 |
I'm still reaching my financial goals. November was moderate, but October was excellent and December has a promising start being already fully booked for over a week.
But the constant negativity on these and other forums since several years now continues to give me a bad feeling, while I probably shouldn't have one. It's clear that translators live in different worlds and that the majority of translators that are still making a good living out of it is mainly silent about it.
| | | | Peter Simon
Холандија
Local time: 21:13
англиски на унгарски
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| None of these | Nov 30, 2025 |
I'm at the end of my life and career, have just enough for the rest to go by, hopefully, so I don't suffer from any said problems with enough work to add a bit of extra. Am I so rare that the asker even forgot to add a button to the options?
| | | | | none of the above | Nov 30, 2025 |
What I am really experiencing is an amazement about the dull maneuvers with international payment systems and network connections. All the rest as usual.
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Bruno Pavesi
Бразил
Local time: 16:13
англиски на португалски
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| I think it's a mix | Nov 30, 2025 |
Well, in my case I'm not sure it's as simple as one answer. I have gone a few months without two of my biggest clients, no idea if they are gone for good or not (agencies rarely ever let you know haha). My most traditional client has been severely undercutting rates because they say AI usage makes my job "easier" (it does not, though I think most of you know that by now).
I am the sole provider at home, a lot of the house work falls on me, I'm almost always doing at least 30 things ... See more Well, in my case I'm not sure it's as simple as one answer. I have gone a few months without two of my biggest clients, no idea if they are gone for good or not (agencies rarely ever let you know haha). My most traditional client has been severely undercutting rates because they say AI usage makes my job "easier" (it does not, though I think most of you know that by now).
I am the sole provider at home, a lot of the house work falls on me, I'm almost always doing at least 30 things at once. It's burnout with job insecurity and stress.
At some point, my shrink and I decided that it would be a good idea for me to travel, so I contact my brother and we will be visiting Japan in March. Hopefully there I can just take some hikes and relax my mind a bit.
We are drifting into the unknown, it's scary, but I'm an optimist (against my better judgement). ▲ Collapse
| | | | Daryo
Local time: 20:13
српски на англиски
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| I would love to have no reasons | Nov 30, 2025 |
Lieven Malaise wrote:
I'm still reaching my financial goals. November was moderate, but October was excellent and December has a promising start being already fully booked for over a week.
But the constant negativity on these and other forums since several years now continues to give me a bad feeling, while I probably shouldn't have one. It's clear that translators live in different worlds and that the majority of translators that are still making a good living out of it is mainly silent about it.
Good for you that you're doing well, but I somehow doubt that you're a representative sample of the general trends.
I would love to have no grounds for [negativity] realism, but as it is I would need some very advanced X-ray glasses to find any. Maybe I should ask some AI to help me find some?
If I may recycle a general purpose observation: if you set the bar low enough, you'll surely have no difficulties jumping over it.
Or, if you beat into submission the definition of 'making a good living', then sure enough there will be 'the majority of translators that are still making a good living out of it' ... A small detail: would that be including the 'small minority' who [on a whim?] decided to look for greener pastures elsewhere?
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Белгија
Local time: 21:13
Член (2020)
француски на холандски
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Daryo wrote:
If I may recycle a general purpose observation: if you set the bar low enough, you'll surely have no difficulties jumping over it.
If you are talking about my bar, it hasn't changed in 20 years. It's earning enough money to lead and sustain the life I want to lead.
Daryo wrote:
A small detail: would that be including the 'small minority' who [on a whim?] decided to look for greener pastures elsewhere?
I don't know who you are talking about. I'm talking about fulltime freelancers who rely solely on translation/(post-)editing to make a living.
[Bijgewerkt op 2025-11-30 17:01 GMT]
| | | | Ana Vozone
Local time: 20:13
Член (2010)
англиски на португалски
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| Job uncertainty... | Nov 30, 2025 |
The volume of work dropped suddenly in the last 3 or 4 months, so suddenly that there was no way I could have prepared for it.
The change is so abrupt that I think it probably is permanent. Never in nearly 50 years as a translator (freelancing full time since 1979) have I seen such a dramatic change in volume.
I do not plan to put up the "Permanently closed" sign yet... but I have set a 6-month horizon (until June 2026) to decide whether to close office permanently.... See more The volume of work dropped suddenly in the last 3 or 4 months, so suddenly that there was no way I could have prepared for it.
The change is so abrupt that I think it probably is permanent. Never in nearly 50 years as a translator (freelancing full time since 1979) have I seen such a dramatic change in volume.
I do not plan to put up the "Permanently closed" sign yet... but I have set a 6-month horizon (until June 2026) to decide whether to close office permanently.
In the meantime, I have been offered jobs via Proz involving reading/recording AI generated prompts and other AI powered projects which I really have simply refused to accept. I feel very uncomfortable reading and recording my voice saying "Yes", reading out "numbers", "bank account" and things of the sort...
This uncertainty is certainly (!!!) challenging, that is all I can say. I have not yet been able to fill my schedule with regular activities and, honestly, I am not sure what to do with my free time each day... ▲ Collapse
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Cecília Alves
Аргентина
Local time: 16:13
Член (2011)
англиски на португалски
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| Mental fatigue/Job uncertainty | Nov 30, 2025 |
Mental fatigue due to the job uncertainty — that should be the answer. This has been the most difficult year ever since the end (for now?) of the pandemic, which was in fact a really productive period. Sometimes I wish I had started in this profession much earlier, when the market was more inclusive and less greedy.
[Edited at 2025-11-30 17:35 GMT]
| | | | Lieven Malaise
Белгија
Local time: 21:13
Член (2020)
француски на холандски
+ ...
Daryo wrote:
Or, if you beat into submission the definition of 'making a good living', then sure enough there will be 'the majority of translators that are still making a good living out of it' ... A small detail: would that be including the 'small minority' who [on a whim?] decided to look for greener pastures elsewhere?
You misread what I was saying. I'm not saying that the majority of translators is still doing good, I was talking about the majority of translators that are still doing good (rephrase: among all translators that are still doing good, most of them are silent about it), so not about the majority of translators in general. I thought that was clear, but apparently not.
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Lieven Malaise wrote:
But the constant negativity on these and other forums since several years now continues to give me a bad feeling, while I probably shouldn't have one. It's clear that translators live in different worlds and that the majority of translators that are still making a good living out of it is mainly silent about it.
Wouldn’t it be more logical to assume that the silence from busy translators is because there are very few of them left?
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