Market concentration in the language services industry and working conditions for translators

Carreira, Oliver

doi:10.1080/0907676x.2023.2214318

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 23 publications

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“…Some have highlighted stagnation, or even decline, in rates amid inflation and increases in the cost of living (do Carmo 2020; Doherty 2016), while others (Nunes Vieira 2020; Sakamoto & Bawa Mason 2024) have commented on the impact of technology on rates. This picturewhile not uniform across the industry (as noted in Nunes Vieira 2020: 5-6)sits in stark contrast to the wider health of the industry and LSPs' growing profitability (Carreira 2023). Extensive research has shown that translation is widely seen as a low (or, at best, middling) status enterprise (Barabé 2021;Dam & Zethsen 2008;Pym et al 2012;Ruokonen & Mäkisalo 2018), in part due to information asymmetry in terms of what translation involves and what it is worth.…”

Section: Existential Sustainability In the Wider Industry Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thriving or Surviving: Motivation, Satisfaction, and Existential Sustainability in the Translation Profession

Lambert,

Walker

2024

mikael

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Despite the health of the language industry in general, the translation profession(al) faces a range of sustainability challenges. Against a backdrop of key disruptors that are transforming workflows and working conditions, and ongoing concerns over status, pay, and wellbeing, industry reports flag an intensifying “talent crunch”, making it increasingly difficult to retain vital human capital. And yet, despite a range of rather bleak industry and academic data, many translators are still happy. In this paper, we use Maslow’s influential theory of motivation to draw together key concerns and to analyse this motivation-satisfaction paradox. We identify worrying deficits in all and even the most basic needs, and contend that translators’ self-actualisation – in this case, their sense of fulfilment through translation itself – acts as a ‘pull’ factor that can compensate for these unfulfilled needs, to a degree. Ultimately, however, these deficits are clearly taking an increasing toll and, in the interests of long-term professional conservation, we must focus further on the lived experience of the individual translator to build towards a thriving professional environment.

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Section: Existential Sustainability In the Wider Industry Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thriving or Surviving: Motivation, Satisfaction, and Existential Sustainability in the Translation Profession

Lambert,

Walker

2024

mikael

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Bad business practices in the language services industry

Carreira

2024

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The language services industry has enjoyed consistent economic growth over the past 15 years, yet not all participants have reaped its benefits. Individual language professionals have faced persistently low rates of pay, a lack of social benefits, and reduced job security. This predicament has been exacerbated by disruptions brought by technologies such as machine translation and artificial intelligence, and the questionable business practices of language services providers. Existing research primarily focuses on economic and technological aspects, overlooking the experiences of linguists. This article seeks to broaden this area of study by compiling a comprehensive list of the bad business practices that individual practitioners experience. A survey of 682 freelance translators provides the foundation, yielding a catalogue of 17 detrimental practices along with their prevalence rates. The article also outlines proposals for addressing these issues and identifies potential avenues for future research in this domain.

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Digitalisation, neo-Taylorism and translation in the 2020s

Baumgarten,

Bourgadel

2023

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Market concentration in the language services industry and working conditions for translators

Cited by 4 publications

References 23 publications

Thriving or Surviving: Motivation, Satisfaction, and Existential Sustainability in the Translation Profession

Thriving or Surviving: Motivation, Satisfaction, and Existential Sustainability in the Translation Profession

Bad business practices in the language services industry

Digitalisation, neo-Taylorism and translation in the 2020s

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