Opportunity for fair prices is knocking the door in the restructured, new economy
Thread poster: Gabriella Vento
Gabriella Vento
Gabriella Vento  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 13:51
Member (2015)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
May 16, 2020

As a result of the economic collapse caused by the security measures to avoid/lessen the pandemic, freelance translators and outsourcer companies in the US and other countries have been receiving financial support from the government in form of forgiveable business loans, tax relief, economic impact payments, pandemic unemployment payment for freelancers etc.
The support makes possible to many of our colleagues to safely plan ahead to the next months. They could answer the offers for new p
... See more
As a result of the economic collapse caused by the security measures to avoid/lessen the pandemic, freelance translators and outsourcer companies in the US and other countries have been receiving financial support from the government in form of forgiveable business loans, tax relief, economic impact payments, pandemic unemployment payment for freelancers etc.
The support makes possible to many of our colleagues to safely plan ahead to the next months. They could answer the offers for new projects with the right pricing, according to their precious credentials, extensive experience and values, instead of offering a miserably low rate, lower, than their numerous competitors, just to make sure the rent, utilities are paid.
This could be a good opportunity for us all; businesses and freelance translators to ensure the due respect for our profession, who are the very engine of the process that will result in a humanity, where the exchange of new technology, economic resources, ideas, art and culture can flourish, uninterrupted by language barriers.
I would like to hear your opinion.
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Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:51
Member (2008)
Italian to English
All very well May 16, 2020

Gabriella Vento wrote:

As a result of the economic collapse caused by the security measures to avoid/lessen the pandemic, freelance translators and outsourcer companies in the US and other countries have been receiving financial support from the government in form of forgiveable business loans, tax relief, economic impact payments, pandemic unemployment payment for freelancers etc.
The support makes possible to many of our colleagues to safely plan ahead to the next months. They could answer the offers for new projects with the right pricing, according to their precious credentials, extensive experience and values, instead of offering a miserably low rate, lower, than their numerous competitors, just to make sure the rent, utilities are paid.
This could be a good opportunity for us all; businesses and freelance translators to ensure the due respect for our profession, who are the very engine of the process that will result in a humanity, where the exchange of new technology, economic resources, ideas, art and culture can flourish, uninterrupted by language barriers.
I would like to hear your opinion.


That would be all very well if we were sitting complacently enjoying our government support. I'm not. I don't qualify. So I don't have time to sit around mulling over idealistic future reorganisations of our profession, a new humanity, etc. I need to keep on working- working hard. I'll leave the pipe-dreaming to others.

[Edited at 2020-05-16 17:12 GMT]


Jorge Payan
Gitte Hovedskov (X)
Ioana Costache
Morano El-Kholy
Christophe Delaunay
Tina Vonhof (X)
 
Jan Truper
Jan Truper  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 21:51
Member (2016)
English to German
... May 16, 2020

Gabriella Vento wrote:
This could be a good opportunity for us all; businesses and freelance translators to ensure the due respect for our profession, who are the very engine of the process that will result in a humanity, where the exchange of new technology, economic resources, ideas, art and culture can flourish, uninterrupted by language barriers.
I would like to hear your opinion.


I like the idea very much, but I have a very sinister suspicion regarding the "restructured, new economy".

I fear that any nuggets of wisdom gained in moments of pandemic reflection will be gormandized by greed very quickly.
The neoliberal forces and powers that be are going to competely f*** the remaining s*** out of Mother Earth and drive the working populace (including translators) to an existence as close to self-imposed slavery as possible, all in the name of "economic recovery".



(Edited to replace "the environment" with "Mother Earth")

[Edited at 2020-05-17 04:03 GMT]


Tom in London
Jorge Payan
Philip Lees
Thayenga
Christophe Delaunay
Philippe Etienne
Tina Vonhof (X)
 
The Misha
The Misha
Local time: 16:51
Russian to English
+ ...
For once, I agree with what you are saying May 16, 2020

Tom in London wrote:



That would be all very well if we were sitting complacently enjoying our government support. I'm not. I don't qualify. So I don't have time to sit around mulling over idealistic future reorganisations of our profession, a new humanity, etc. I need to keep on working- working hard. I'll leave the pipe-dreaming to others.

[Edited at 2020-05-16 17:12 GMT]


Oh, and who said we are all "offering a miserably low rate, lower, than their numerous competitors, just to make sure the rent, utilities are paid"? I know I am not, nor is anyone else I know professionally.

Methink, if someone does that, he or she is probably in a wrong line of business and should move on to greener pastures. But hey, what do I know?

P.S. Meet the new humanity - the same as the old humanity:)))))))

[Edited at 2020-05-16 18:57 GMT]


Jorge Payan
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 20:51
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
@Gabriella May 17, 2020

As you know low rates and people that for whatever reason have applied them precede this crisis and have nothing to do with the Coronavirus or the financial support from governments. It is hard to imagine that just because of a crisis, greedy people will become generous, angry people will become merciful and injustice will vanish from the Earth. This isn’t the first crisis I’ve had to face (personal or global) and experience tells me that unlike what is shown in fiction people don’t change... See more
As you know low rates and people that for whatever reason have applied them precede this crisis and have nothing to do with the Coronavirus or the financial support from governments. It is hard to imagine that just because of a crisis, greedy people will become generous, angry people will become merciful and injustice will vanish from the Earth. This isn’t the first crisis I’ve had to face (personal or global) and experience tells me that unlike what is shown in fiction people don’t change easily…Collapse


Tom in London
Thayenga
Morano El-Kholy
Philip Lees
Maaike van Vlijmen
Christophe Delaunay
Giovana Zaltron
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:51
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Change May 17, 2020

Teresa Borges wrote:

As you know low rates and people that for whatever reason have applied them precede this crisis and have nothing to do with the Coronavirus or the financial support from governments. It is hard to imagine that just because of a crisis, greedy people will become generous, angry people will become merciful and injustice will vanish from the Earth. This isn’t the first crisis I’ve had to face (personal or global) and experience tells me that unlike what is shown in fiction people don’t change easily…


Things will only change when it becomes impossible to continue as before; in other words when the situation becomes so bad that everything collapses. Marx tells us that this is inevitable; it's only a matter of where and when. We must make ourselves ready with an alternative strategy.


Philippe Etienne
 
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Kay-Viktor Stegemann
Germany
Local time: 21:51
English to German
In memoriam
Will it be inflation or deflation? May 17, 2020

I'm not sure what kind of restructured new economy you are referring to. Even if we have government supports in place for many struggling industries right now (like tourism or aviation), it should be obvious that this can only be temporary. You cannot restructure an economy with permanent government subsidies. What we will see is the continuing effort of central banks to fight deflation by throwing loans around and creating new money (or, to put it differently, to fight a debt crisis with even m... See more
I'm not sure what kind of restructured new economy you are referring to. Even if we have government supports in place for many struggling industries right now (like tourism or aviation), it should be obvious that this can only be temporary. You cannot restructure an economy with permanent government subsidies. What we will see is the continuing effort of central banks to fight deflation by throwing loans around and creating new money (or, to put it differently, to fight a debt crisis with even more debt). The economy is based on the idea that people should buy, buy, and buy all the time, and if they stop buying, you need to do something about it. With the present disruption in global supply chains, we might finally reach a point where there is more money than goods, which should lead to inflation. But translators and their rates are only very small fry in a very big pan.Collapse


Philip Lees
 
Paweł Hamerski
Paweł Hamerski
Poland
Local time: 21:51
English to Polish
+ ...
Well, I am not interested in theories either May 17, 2020

I have a work to do.

 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 21:51
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Gabriella May 17, 2020

Gabriella Vento wrote:
The forgiveable business loans, tax relief, economic impact payments, pandemic unemployment payment etc. makes possible to many of our colleagues to safely plan ahead to the next months. They could answer the offers for new projects with the right pricing, according to their precious credentials, extensive experience and values, instead of offering a miserably low rate, lower, than their numerous competitors, just to make sure the rent, utilities are paid.


The relief is just that: relief, i.e. from the negative effects of disaster. All of these things are barely sufficient to cover ordinary survival. And even if you are fortunate enough to achieve a bit of a surplus thanks to these relief payments, you should not regard them as an opportunity to take extra risk. No-one knows for how long the government(s) will be able to continue offering these forms of relief, or for how long you'll still qualify for it.

You should not treat the relief as a dependable source of income, or as a means to offset reductions in work opportunities due to deliberate overpricing. You may not like it, but your current rate is more or less the "sustainable rate" for the marking in which you work. What you propose here is to raise your rate to such levels that it will reduce the acceptability of your offering to such a degree that it can only be sustained with government aid. I don't think that that is a smart thing to do.

[Edited at 2020-05-17 12:30 GMT]


Oriana Bonan
 
Yolande Hivart
Yolande Hivart
Austria
Local time: 21:51
Member (2016)
German to French
I do not see it that way May 17, 2020

The relief aid was not made to wait with complacency for better times when one could be picky on the price.
On the contrary, during an economic crisis, the clients have more offer for less demand of translation and can take the time to test and seek new partners.
In any month of full activity I have earned much more than the offer given and the fact that any earning aside the aid gets deducted from the aid makes it to think over twice if one would not rather give everything to come o
... See more
The relief aid was not made to wait with complacency for better times when one could be picky on the price.
On the contrary, during an economic crisis, the clients have more offer for less demand of translation and can take the time to test and seek new partners.
In any month of full activity I have earned much more than the offer given and the fact that any earning aside the aid gets deducted from the aid makes it to think over twice if one would not rather give everything to come over without the aid.
The other forms are only in the form of a loan, you are then indebted to the state and thus your freedom of enterprening choices gets reduced with the necessity of returning back the amount due.
I see a chance to take the time to improve myself but if some colleagues think of getting into holliday into a few weeks time, I do intend to have my busiest activity possible.
Do not forget either that there might be a second wave too and we have to regain the loss the first wave caused if the company is to be standing on its feet after one or two turbulent years.
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Marina Steinbach
Marina Steinbach
United States
Local time: 16:51
Member (2011)
English to German
@Gabriella regarding tax relief May 17, 2020

I know that most federal tax filing and payment deadlines are extended to July 15, 2020. What other kind of tax relief is offered in the US, when your income declines due to the coronavirus situation?

 


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Opportunity for fair prices is knocking the door in the restructured, new economy







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