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Effects of COVID-19 on the translation industry
Thread poster: Nicholas Isard
Nicholas Isard
Nicholas Isard  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 06:19
Member (2020)
Spanish to English
+ ...
May 19, 2020

Hi everyone,

First and foremost, I hope you are all well. I was just wondering if, a few months into the outbreak of COVID-19 and with lockdowns slowly being lifted, you are starting to see your pre-pandemic volume of work return.

If not, how do you see this panning out for our industry? Of course, it's impossible to predict, but any educated guesses/insights would be interesting to hear.

Best,
Nick


itsangelmaire
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:19
Member (2008)
Italian to English
No but May 19, 2020

Nicholas Isard wrote:

Hi everyone,

First and foremost, I hope you are all well. I was just wondering if, a few months into the outbreak of COVID-19 and with lockdowns slowly being lifted, you are starting to see your pre-pandemic volume of work return.

If not, how do you see this panning out for our industry? Of course, it's impossible to predict, but any educated guesses/insights would be interesting to hear.

Best,
Nick


No, but with lockdowns slowly being lifted I expect to see the emergence of a second wave of infection that will be worse than the first one.


Nicholas Isard
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IrinaN
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Robert Rietvelt
 
Nicholas Isard
Nicholas Isard  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 06:19
Member (2020)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Agree May 19, 2020

Yes, I agree, Tom. Unfortunately, I suspect that could see our industry severely damaged for the rest of the year.

Tom in London
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:19
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Beyond May 19, 2020

Nicholas Isard wrote:

Yes, I agree, Tom. Unfortunately, I suspect that could see our industry severely damaged for the rest of the year.


And probably beyond, if the Irish experience is typical:

"THE SECRETARY GENERAL at the Department of Health will tell an Oireachtas Committee this morning that the Covid-19 crisis could last for years."

https://www.thejournal.ie/covid-19-main-points-19-may-2020-5102301-May2020/


 
Joe France
Joe France  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:19
Member (2016)
German to English
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It will depend on where your clients are May 19, 2020

An obvious point, I know - but with most of my clients based in the DACH region, my work has started to return to normal levels. It never dried up completely, which is probably due to the rather lighter version of lockdown in Germany and Austria than was the case in Spain or Italy, for example.

April was very quiet and quite unsettling but the last couple of weeks has seen a deluge of work - I'm having to turn projects down. Perhaps it's just those sensible Germans planning ahead an
... See more
An obvious point, I know - but with most of my clients based in the DACH region, my work has started to return to normal levels. It never dried up completely, which is probably due to the rather lighter version of lockdown in Germany and Austria than was the case in Spain or Italy, for example.

April was very quiet and quite unsettling but the last couple of weeks has seen a deluge of work - I'm having to turn projects down. Perhaps it's just those sensible Germans planning ahead and scheduling translations on time, perhaps it's a sign of recovery.

I usually feel quite aggrieved when someone posts to say "well, I'm fine" - but, in this case, maybe this post can offer hope that clients do still exist and need translations. Whether the shape of the economy changes and we make the urgently needed transition to renewable energies, cycle instead of driving to the shop and stop jetting all over the world at a moment's notice, I don't know. But people and businesses will still need to communicate, so I don't see this is a moment of impending doom for our industry any more than any other.

[Edited at 2020-05-19 11:03 GMT]
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Christian Tuckermann
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Yolande Hivart
Yolande Hivart
Austria
Local time: 06:19
Member (2016)
German to French
Depends on the sector May 19, 2020

The official sector seems to have gone back to work but the private sector seems to remain on the waiting side, I saw few days ago an article stating that the economists where analysing the returning back of businesses to work with the amount of electricity spent by the industries and it seems that even if the lockdown had been lifted, many companies are still keeping there employees into short term unemployment because of the consummer demand being so low and their own premises shut.

... See more
The official sector seems to have gone back to work but the private sector seems to remain on the waiting side, I saw few days ago an article stating that the economists where analysing the returning back of businesses to work with the amount of electricity spent by the industries and it seems that even if the lockdown had been lifted, many companies are still keeping there employees into short term unemployment because of the consummer demand being so low and their own premises shut.

That said, looking from abroad, some other countries are being quite busy again and others do not seem to have much worries of that sort in the short future.
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Daniel Williams
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Sabrina Bruna
Sabrina Bruna  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 06:19
Member (2013)
English to Italian
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May has been a good month so far May 19, 2020

Hi everyone,

Talking of my experience, March but especially April were very quiet, almost without any work. May has started really well, I had two full weeks of work and this one is promising good too.

Let's see with the next few weeks...

Sabrina


 
Nicholas Isard
Nicholas Isard  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 06:19
Member (2020)
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Thanks for your insights May 19, 2020

Hi Joe,

That is certainly encouraging to hear. Yes, I imagine it depends on how hard each country has been hit. Spain, as in Italy I imagine, now has a massive % of the population (+/- 65%) that depends on the state, meaning tax is likely to increase in some form or the other in the near future for the remaining 35% keeping everything going.

You're right though - companies will still need to communicate in one form or the other.

Best,
Nick


 
Susana Fernández Oliván
Susana Fernández Oliván  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 06:19
French to Spanish
+ ...
No work at all! May 19, 2020

Hello dear colleagues ! I live between France and Spain and since lockdown, our workload has plummeted !! No translations, no simultaneous interpreting. I've been attending online remote training for weeks. No results. My colleagues are also idle and worrying for their future. I hope our clients will recover soon. But our expectations are very thin for the rest of the year and 2021. It feels very strange when you start sending CVs again, receiving nothing in return but good wishes, because agen... See more
Hello dear colleagues ! I live between France and Spain and since lockdown, our workload has plummeted !! No translations, no simultaneous interpreting. I've been attending online remote training for weeks. No results. My colleagues are also idle and worrying for their future. I hope our clients will recover soon. But our expectations are very thin for the rest of the year and 2021. It feels very strange when you start sending CVs again, receiving nothing in return but good wishes, because agencies are also suffering.
Love to you all !!!!
sue
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Villő Ujvári
Tradwind (X)
Maria Pia Giuseppina Nuzzolese
S.Paramesh Kumar
 
Nicholas Isard
Nicholas Isard  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 06:19
Member (2020)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Coronavirus - effects in Spain May 19, 2020

I think writing off the entire industry of the whole of this year and next is rather pessimistic - as Joe says, companies do still need to communicate and sell abroad. There is no doubt though that it is taking a hit. Are any of you thinking about diversifying in any way or changing the way you run your business?

 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:19
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Restructuring May 19, 2020

Nicholas Isard wrote:

I think writing off the entire industry of the whole of this year and next is rather pessimistic - as Joe says, companies do still need to communicate and sell abroad. There is no doubt though that it is taking a hit. Are any of you thinking about diversifying in any way or changing the way you run your business?


I'm thinking that instead of hoping to get "back to normal" (pollution, mindless consumption, pointless travel, etc.)the whole of society, including translation, should be completely restructured based on the assumption that viruses will be with us forever.


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Tea Komšić
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Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 06:19
English to Croatian
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An often raised question May 20, 2020

This has been the question that I answered the most during the last two months: "What are the effects of the pandemic on translation business?" I must say, May has started out very well. I already had some work done, and agencies approached me, which is very good, after the desert that occurred in March and April. I think everything is slowly waking up. The economy needs to get back on its feet.

Joe France
Sabrina Bruna
 
alessandra bocco
alessandra bocco  Identity Verified
Local time: 06:19
Member (2006)
English to Italian
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For me it's the opposite May 20, 2020

Maybe because I work in the medical/pharmaceutical field, but March and April were the busiest months of my whole career. In April I invoiced exactly the double than in an average month. May, on the contrary, is really quiet, with only small projects...

Yaotl Altan
 
Tradwind (X)
Tradwind (X)
France
Local time: 06:19
English to French
+ ...
Black-out May 20, 2020

Since early March, my work has first slowed down, then started to dry up completely.
And yet, I work in the medical/pharmaceutical fields; probably because my main clients are based in the US (New-york & LA).
I heard that common research on medical trials had been almost stopped in support of research into a treatment and vaccine for SARS coV2.

Good luck everyone


 
Cristiano Lima
Cristiano Lima
Brazil
Local time: 02:19
Russian to Portuguese
+ ...
Nothing May 21, 2020

For me it did not change anything. I think that Proz companies have allergies to my profile. ROFL

[Edited at 2020-05-21 14:03 GMT]


 
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Effects of COVID-19 on the translation industry






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