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Poll: What do you call disappointing when it comes to low earnings per month? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What do you call disappointing when it comes to low earnings per month?".
View the poll results »
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Over the years, I’ve seen a fair share of very disappointing months of slow business, but never a €0 month, and I know, from experience, that patience and perseverance are my friends…
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Zea_Mays 
Italy
Local time: 22:30
English to German
+ ...
And in what region/country?
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That's a lot of people who don't consider earnings of 0-1500 EURO per month disappointing.
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Lieven Malaise
Belgium
Local time: 22:30
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
Net: everything below 2000 euros.
Gross: everything below 5000 euros.
But this will differ heavily between countries and continents, I assume.
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Lieven Malaise wrote:
But this will differ heavily between countries and continents, I assume.
You are right.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:30
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Gjorgji Apostolovski wrote:
Lieven Malaise wrote:
But this will differ heavily between countries and continents, I assume.
You are right.
It will also depend on the language pair, and the specialism or field.
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Tom in London wrote:
Gjorgji Apostolovski wrote:
Lieven Malaise wrote:
But this will differ heavily between countries and continents, I assume.
You are right.
It will also depend on the language pair, and the specialism or field.
And in the future probably will depend on AI
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Zea_Mays
Italy
Local time: 22:30
English to German
+ ...
| disappointing is disappointing | Jan 19 |
Tom in London wrote:
Gjorgji Apostolovski wrote:
Lieven Malaise wrote:
But this will differ heavily between countries and continents, I assume.
You are right.
It will also depend on the language pair, and the specialism or field.
Disappointing earnings are disappointing earnings, no matter what your specialism or field are, meaning they're not enough to cover your expenses.
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Zea_Mays
Italy
Local time: 22:30
English to German
+ ...
| what earnings, where? | Jan 19 |
Rachel Waddington wrote:
That's a lot of people who don't consider earnings of 0-1500 EURO per month disappointing.
Just think of the many part-time translators...
As others have said, location also plays a role. For example, in northern Italy the same amount is low, while in southern Italy it can be pretty good. Or take northern Europe and Greece.
So the current poll result could mean different things - half or more of the translators work part-time, or if they are working full-time they are located in countries with low living costs.
Still, if you don't know whether gross (= before tax) or net (= after tax) is meant, you can't answer the question.
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Zea_Mays wrote:
Rachel Waddington wrote:
That's a lot of people who don't consider earnings of 0-1500 EURO per month disappointing.
Just think of the many part-time translators...
As others have said, location also plays a role. For example, in northern Italy the same amount is low, while in southern Italy it can be pretty good. Or take northern Europe and Greece.
So the current poll result could mean different things - half or more of the translators work part-time, or if they are working full-time they are located in countries with low living costs.
Still, if you don't know whether gross (= before tax) or net (= after tax) is meant, you can't answer the question.
And also taxes and the laws are different in different regions, countries, states, continents...
For example in my country the threshold for VAT is 30 000 euros annual profit. If you are making less than that then you don't need to open a firm or pay VAT, but only if this is your main income. And the people who are selling vegetables and fruits in green markets are making more than I do as a freelancer.
5-15 000 euros net annual salary in my country is considered as an average these days.
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| That's true, but ... | Jan 19 |
Zea_Mays wrote:
Rachel Waddington wrote:
That's a lot of people who don't consider earnings of 0-1500 EURO per month disappointing.
Just think of the many part-time translators...
As others have said, location also plays a role. For example, in northern Italy the same amount is low, while in southern Italy it can be pretty good. Or take northern Europe and Greece.
So the current poll result could mean different things - half or more of the translators work part-time, or if they are working full-time they are located in countries with low living costs.
Still, if you don't know whether gross (= before tax) or net (= after tax) is meant, you can't answer the question.
That's true, but it was the percentage that surprised me - when I commented around 43% had responded that zero earnings were disappointing, implying that 1500 EURO per month was OK. 1500 EUR per month is well below the minimum wage for full time work in the UK (and I'd expect translators to be aspiring to above minimum wage). Even given that we are all over the place geographically this implies that a really high percentage are part timers or low earners.
As more people have responded, these percentages have shifted quite a bit though, bringing it to a rather less eyebrow-raising proportion.
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| I don't think Tom meant that | Jan 19 |
Zea_Mays wrote:
Tom in London wrote:
Gjorgji Apostolovski wrote:
Lieven Malaise wrote:
But this will differ heavily between countries and continents, I assume.
You are right.
It will also depend on the language pair, and the specialism or field.
Disappointing earnings are disappointing earnings, no matter what your specialism or field are, meaning they're not enough to cover your expenses.
I think Tom meant, and I agree that people who get less than €1500 as earnings do not have any specialism or specific field and that certain specialisms or fields are better paid than others. I do not see how anyone in the EU can live with less than €1500 though, whether you are from the northern countries or the southern Mediterranean or Eastern countries. My opinion, at least.
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jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 16:30
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
Tom in London wrote:
Gjorgji Apostolovski wrote:
Lieven Malaise wrote:
But this will differ heavily between countries and continents, I assume.
You are right.
It will also depend on the language pair, and the specialism or field.
Did you mean that an earning of, say for example, less than 5,000 EURO per month, can be more (or less) disappointing for your language pair than another language pair?
[Edited at 2025-01-19 17:26 GMT]
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jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 16:30
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
Josephine Cassar wrote:
Zea_Mays wrote:
Tom in London wrote:
Gjorgji Apostolovski wrote:
Lieven Malaise wrote:
But this will differ heavily between countries and continents, I assume.
You are right.
It will also depend on the language pair, and the specialism or field.
Disappointing earnings are disappointing earnings, no matter what your specialism or field are, meaning they're not enough to cover your expenses.
I think Tom meant, and I agree that people who get less than €1500 as earnings do not have any specialism or specific field
Did you ever meet any translator who doesn't have a specialism? All translators who I know of have one or more specialisms.
[Edited at 2025-01-19 16:59 GMT]
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