| Pages in topic: [1 2 3 4 5] > | Translation business in Russia: Cutthroat competition among agencies, peanuts offered to translators Thread poster: Vladimir Pochinov
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I have just looked at the outcome of a bidding process for translation from Russian into English (translation + editing).
Volume: 25,000 words
Starting project price: RUB 50,000, or USD 794.00
Final award: RUB 37,750 (down by 25.5% on the starting project price), or USD 599.00
Final rate per word: USD 0.024
Even if the winning LSP pays out 80% (an unlikely figure) of the total project price to its translators and editors, the latter will only get peanu... See more I have just looked at the outcome of a bidding process for translation from Russian into English (translation + editing).
Volume: 25,000 words
Starting project price: RUB 50,000, or USD 794.00
Final award: RUB 37,750 (down by 25.5% on the starting project price), or USD 599.00
Final rate per word: USD 0.024
Even if the winning LSP pays out 80% (an unlikely figure) of the total project price to its translators and editors, the latter will only get peanuts as shown below:
USD 0.024 * 0.8 = 0.0192, to be shared between translators (at 2/3 of 0.0192 = USD 0.0128 per word) and editors (at USD 0.0064 per word)
Yet, in their presentations and statements at the conferences held by the Union of Translators of Russia (UTR), etc., the top managers of these agencies advocate for raising the prestige of translators.
Understandably, I don't join the UTR, and don't work for Russian translation agencies.
From my experience as a translation buyer (acting on behalf of my employers), the quality of the legal translations produced by Russian agencies ranged between 1 and 4. We even refused to pay for a couple of projects, and the agencies had to acknowledge the horrible quality of their deliverables. Therefore, I prefer to deal with freelance translators with relevant expertise. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Adieu 
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
I'd be howling in desperation if I didn't have a couple other spare language pairs (without Russian) to fall back on.
| | | | Juno Bos
Zambia
Local time: 23:00
Member (2011)
German to Dutch
+ ...
| Is this new or has this to do with the current situation | Jul 8, 2022 |
Why I am asking is, because quite a few translators from the Russian Federation have been complaining lately that they pretty much lost all their clients from other countries. Meaning the market might be pretty much open to lower rates, since people are desperate for work (No, that doesn't justify lower rates).
[Edited at 2022-07-08 16:30 GMT]
| | | | Vladimir Pochinov
Russian Federation
Local time: 23:00
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER | Price competition has been Russian translation industry's feature for decades | Jul 8, 2022 |
The top Russian LSP (which ranked as 40th largest LSP in the world and 7th in Western Europe in 2019) constantly posts job adverts on ProZ.com.
Their website tells freelancers in the "Careers" section that "You are one step away from joining our talented, dynamic, exciting, creative and high energy community!"
Judging from their translator attrition rate, they mean the community of desperate people willing to work for peanuts.
I tried to respond to their jo... See more The top Russian LSP (which ranked as 40th largest LSP in the world and 7th in Western Europe in 2019) constantly posts job adverts on ProZ.com.
Their website tells freelancers in the "Careers" section that "You are one step away from joining our talented, dynamic, exciting, creative and high energy community!"
Judging from their translator attrition rate, they mean the community of desperate people willing to work for peanuts.
I tried to respond to their job advert once, and their vendor manager came back to me advising that they could only pay $0.016 per word. ▲ Collapse
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Juno Bos
Zambia
Local time: 23:00
Member (2011)
German to Dutch
+ ...
| Who needs this | Jul 8, 2022 |
"You are one step away from joining our talented, dynamic, exciting, creative and high energy community!"
This makes me think of standard management language. I am surprised out-of-the-box or success metric aren't there.
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 00:00
Member
English to Turkish
| What is the purpose of your topic? | Jul 8, 2022 |
I understand (and sympathize) that you want to vent your frustration and anger, but why do you have to do this on a public forum in English that is likely to be read by outsourcers and LSPs from different parts of the world? In fact, the Dutch colleague that you've communicating on this thread is an outsourcer herself. After reading your posts, in which you reveal the deplorable state of the Russian translation market in minute detail, she now has a clear picture as to how much to offer to a Rus... See more I understand (and sympathize) that you want to vent your frustration and anger, but why do you have to do this on a public forum in English that is likely to be read by outsourcers and LSPs from different parts of the world? In fact, the Dutch colleague that you've communicating on this thread is an outsourcer herself. After reading your posts, in which you reveal the deplorable state of the Russian translation market in minute detail, she now has a clear picture as to how much to offer to a Russian translator based in Russia next time she gets an EN>RU job. Your posts will also provide food for thought for the representatives of Asian agencies, who will doubtless rethink their idea of 'best rate' when it comes to the Russian translators based in Russia.
It's great that you work with agencies from outside Russia, and make a good living, but why do you feel the need to reveal the rates in Russia here? Do you think your fellow Russian translators will like to see their domestic conditions advertised/exposed like this? What practical purpose does your topic serve? Please don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to get into a debate with you, I just want to understand, that's all. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Vladimir Pochinov
Russian Federation
Local time: 23:00
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER | The purpose of my topic | Jul 8, 2022 |
Baran Keki wrote:
I understand (and sympathize) that you want to vent your frustration and anger, but why do you have to do this on a public forum in English that is likely to be read by outsourcers and LSPs from different parts of the world? ... Your posts will also provide food for thought for the representatives of Asian agencies, who will doubtless rethink their idea of 'best rate' when it comes to the Russian translators based in Russia.
... why do you feel the need to reveal the rates in Russia here? Do you think your fellow Russian translators will like to see their domestic conditions advertised/exposed like this? What practical purpose does your topic serve?
1. Is this topic the first one where fellow translators from different countries reveal the rates in their respective countries, and their frustration with the same?
2. As you may have noticed, I hold that low-paying agencies in Russia face constant problems with unhappy in-house staff and freelancers. Professional translators wouldn't have anything to do with them. Resultantly, they have quality problems, despite what they advertise on their websites.
3. I'd like younger Russian colleagues to focus on seeking clients elsewhere.
| | | | Baran Keki
Türkiye
Local time: 00:00
Member
English to Turkish
| Very thoughtful (but, perhaps, unwittingly thoughtless) of you | Jul 8, 2022 |
Vladimir Pochinov wrote:
3. I'd like younger Russian colleagues to focus on seeking clients elsewhere.
Since these younger Russian colleagues will be seeking agencies through websites like Proz, I don't think you're doing them any favours by revealing the rates in Russia on a public forum was kind of my point. I see that your heart is in the right place, and you mean well, but, if I were a Russian translator based in Russia, I wouldn't particularly appreciate agencies from Europe knowing the appalling rates being offered in Russia.
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Vladimir Pochinov
Russian Federation
Local time: 23:00
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER | Rates revealed | Jul 8, 2022 |
Baran Keki wrote: Vladimir Pochinov wrote:
3. I'd like younger Russian colleagues to focus on seeking clients elsewhere. Since these younger Russian colleagues will be seeking agencies through websites like Proz, I don't think you're doing them any favours by revealing the rates in Russia on a public forum was kind of my point... If I were a Russian translator based in Russia, I wouldn't particularly appreciate agencies from Europe knowing the appalling rates being offered in Russia.
Come on, Baran. What did I reveal? Just visit Fiverr.com or a similar marketplace. Lots of Russian-speaking people offer their services for peanuts.
This particular girl has 89 positive reviews.
[Edited at 2022-07-08 19:54 GMT]
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
| Holy crap that's madness | Jul 8, 2022 |
I do 200-500 word RU-EN translations or revisions for $50 minimums daily
Nominal but more often than not irrelevant rates of $0.09 translation / $0.07 MTPE / $0.035 revision, but it's mostly about the minimums since I just cherrypick unless very very bored.
This person charges literally 10x less.
[Edited at 2022-07-08 20:24 GMT]
| | | | Stepan Konev
Russian Federation
Local time: 00:00
English to Russian
| Who gives a response | Jul 8, 2022 |
Baran Keki wrote:
What is the purpose of your topic? Even though I suffer from the same situation too, I apt to agree with Baran Keki. I don't think that translators from other countries care much about the Russian translation market and its problems (and hardly we may expect too much from them, it is fairly normal), and even more so these days considering how Russia and Russians are seen in the world.
Vladimir Pochinov wrote:
I'd like younger Russian colleagues to focus on seeking clients elsewhere. Even though [again] I am not a younger colleague, I keep seeking clients outside of Russia, to no avail. I pass their translation test but I fail their location test.
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Baran Keki wrote:
I just want to understand, that's all.
![]() https://i7.otzovik.com/2020/06/24/10249767/img/1650870_72912564.jpeg
there is a smiling cook in the center of the package. If the cook's image will shift to the right or to the left, his smile will lose its attractiveness. I think this post is about that, although some "cooks" will certainly keep smiling from the center of some 'select' packages.
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Vladimir Pochinov
Russian Federation
Local time: 23:00
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER | I know good translators who don't even try to go beyond their local market | Jul 8, 2022 |
Stepan Konev wrote:
Even though [again] I am not a younger colleague, I keep seeking clients outside of Russia, to no avail. I pass their translation test but I fail their location test.
And it's not that they've made it big in the local market. I keep wondering what stops them from seeking better-paying clients.
| | | | David GAY
Local time: 23:00
English to French
+ ...
| other job opportunities | Jul 9, 2022 |
Baran Keki wrote:
It's great that you work with agencies from outside Russia, and make a good living, but why do you feel the need to reveal the rates in Russia here? Do you think your fellow Russian translators will like to see their domestic conditions advertised/exposed like this? What practical purpose does your topic serve? Please don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to get into a debate with you, I just want to understand, that's all.
the idea could be to advise Russian graduates to avoid entering the translation market and to advise translators to seek better opportunities in other industries
[Edited at 2022-07-09 03:36 GMT]
[Edited at 2022-07-09 03:37 GMT]
| | | | Metin Demirel
Türkiye
Local time: 00:00
Member (2018)
Italian to Turkish
+ ...
Vladimir Pochinov wrote:
And it's not that they've made it big in the local market. I keep wondering what stops them from seeking better-paying clients.
This may sound like an exaggeration, but some of them see marketing as a challenge, an adventure or a risk. They don't want to be translators. They want a stable job. They consider translation as a temporary activity while they pursue landing an office job, which they do in the end. So they don't bother making a long-term plan to accomplish establishing a lucrative business, which they believe only the lucky few can achieve.
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