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Poll: What is the share of translation in your total revenue now? Autor vlákna: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What is the share of translation in your total revenue now?".
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All my income comes from translation: the pension I receive from the EU for the years I worked there, plus my freelance work. My pension has been increasing, while my freelance work has been decreasing. I am not complaining at all as I could live comfortably from my pension, but then again, I like feeling I still belong to the active population and my brain needs mental stimulation…
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Lieven Malaise 
Belgie
Local time: 16:08
Člen (2020)
francouzština -> nizozemština
+ ...
Another vague question that can be interpreted in different ways, so I'll stick to my interpretation:
"What is the share of conventional translation in your total revenue as a freelance translator?" A rough estimate would be 30% (considering the word count), but I don't keep track of it.
EDIT: it's revenue so I shouldn't consider the word count. In that case it's probably more like 50/50.
[Bijgewerkt op 2025-12-02 09:28 GMT]
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Liena V.
Lotyšsko
Local time: 17:08
Člen (2014)
francouzština -> lotyština
+ ...
I could shoot in the dark and say somewhere between 70% and 90 %, but I really don't know. I do translation, review and some other tasks at my hourly or minimum rate, so it is really hard to tell. What I do know is that MTPE wouldn't even reach 5%.
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Philippe Etienne
Španělsko
Local time: 16:08
Člen
angličtina -> francouzština
+ ...
65% of my turnover in 2025 so far is human translation, 24% is MTPE and the rest reviewing/QA/other.
Business is shrinking and by the look of it, I will not reach retirement age (in ten years) as a translator.
2026 will be about weighing other options if any and hopefully reinvent myself gracefully in an AI-proof way.
Philippe
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Philippe Etienne wrote:
65% of my turnover in 2025 so far is human translation, 24% is MTPE and the rest reviewing/QA/other.
Business is shrinking and by the look of it, I will not reach retirement age (in ten years) as a translator.
2026 will be about weighing other options if any and hopefully reinvent myself gracefully in an AI-proof way.
Philippe
Same thing here. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that the industry will be able to recover. I'm already weighing other options for 2026 as well.
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texjax DDS PhD
Local time: 10:08
Člen (2006)
angličtina -> italština
+ ...
| Another one :) | Dec 2, 2025 |
Lieven Malaise wrote:
Another vague question that can be interpreted in different ways
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Edwige Thomas
Francie
Local time: 16:08
angličtina -> francouzština
+ ...
texjax DDS PhD wrote:
Lieven Malaise wrote:
Another vague question that can be interpreted in different ways
What have been your contributions to the quick polls so far?
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| Prompt Engineering | Dec 2, 2025 |
Claudio Machado Junior wrote:
Philippe Etienne wrote:
65% of my turnover in 2025 so far is human translation, 24% is MTPE and the rest reviewing/QA/other.
Business is shrinking and by the look of it, I will not reach retirement age (in ten years) as a translator.
2026 will be about weighing other options if any and hopefully reinvent myself gracefully in an AI-proof way.
Philippe
Same thing here. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that the industry will be able to recover. I'm already weighing other options for 2026 as well.
After a few conferences regarding AI that I attended, I think I'll start learning prompt engineering to get into the AI world and still be related to text/words. Eventually, I could join translation with this knowledge too, to become a multilingual prompt engineer.
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Lieven Malaise
Belgie
Local time: 16:08
Člen (2020)
francouzština -> nizozemština
+ ...
| Misinterpretation | Dec 2, 2025 |
Edwige Thomas wrote:
What have been your contributions to the quick polls so far?
I have been commenting on many poll questions since my first membership, so I would say that I have been contributing quite significantly to them.
But if I misinterpreted your question and you actually want to know how many poll questions I've submitted myself, then the answer is zero. But why does that matter? I would say the thing that matters is that poll questions are unambiguous, because different interpretations make the poll results worthless.
[Bijgewerkt op 2025-12-02 21:15 GMT]
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texjax DDS PhD
Local time: 10:08
Člen (2006)
angličtina -> italština
+ ...
Edwige Thomas wrote:
texjax DDS PhD wrote:
Lieven Malaise wrote:
Another vague question that can be interpreted in different ways
What have been your contributions to the quick polls so far?
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My main income has been teaching, and I sometimes translate for my students and for charity. In the future, I would like to translate for direct clients in the religious, literary, and medical sectors. I am just preparing myself to jump into it very soon.
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Daryo
Local time: 15:08
srbština -> angličtina
+ ...
| Quand poser des questions ne conduit pas à d'autre questions | Dec 3, 2025 |
Edwige Thomas wrote:
texjax DDS PhD wrote:
Lieven Malaise wrote:
Another vague question that can be interpreted in different ways
What have been your contributions to the quick polls so far?
Less I also get accused of not contributing, here is my contribution:
I keep being 'schooled' that doing nothing more sweeping under the carpet the most glaring errors in MT/AI generated output also counts as 'translating' - according to some you don't even need to see the ST!
Given that MY definition of 'translating' is slightly more restrictive, it would help if whoever asked this poll question included the latest 'improved / updated / modernised ...' short definition of 'translating' that's supposed to used for the purpose of the poll.
Asking too much?
BTW, don’t blame me if this kind of counter question has become a necessity – I did not introduce the growing fashion to twist the meaning of words like a chewing-gum.
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| ELIS 2025 report | Dec 3, 2025 |
European Language Industry Survey 2025 results from March (so it's from last year): https://elis-survey.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ELIS-2025_Report.pdf
Page 19: INDUSTRY SENTIMENT - Language company mood >
With market activity, price and profitability levels declining further, it is no surprise that language
companies continue on their downward investment mood slope. 2025 hits another historic low in
standard country average. In terms of weighted average, taking into account the number of answers
from each individual country, only the infamous Covid year 2020 did worse.
Independent professional sentiment > Independent language professionals express even more alarming sentiments, especially in their free
text comments.
While the percentage of professionals that earn enough from freelance activity has only declined
marginally, and people are obviously trying to keep their retirement provisions intact, the overall
opinion that freelancing is a viable long-term option has dropped below the 50% mark, which should
be a serious wakeup call. This drop in confidence is visible in all seniority classes. The most junior
ones, which still showed a lot of confidence last year, have lost it completely.
This loss of confidence is linked to a mix of real loss of income and activity on the one hand, and a
general decline of their economic and work environment. Stronger price pressure, especially from
large language companies, a drop in work volume and the generalised move from human
translation to discounted and less-valued post-editing make 53% of the participants question their
future as a freelance professional. It is therefore not surprising that 23% are considering ending
their freelance activity.
Nothing more to add.
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Andualem Taye
Etiopie
Local time: 17:08
angličtina -> amharština
+ ...
| I am new freelancer still I didn't gate job I need advice | Dec 5, 2025 |
Hi,
write a message to ask I am new freelancer still I didn't get job on this website check my profile leave a comment I need advice which freelancing skill is in demand I didn't see translation post amharic to afan oromo, oromo to english, amharic to english and vs and voice over
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