Translation as a Profession (Benjamins Translation Library)

216 Translation as a Profession– the file has just ‘evaporated’.Of course, some translators revel in this kind of situation, especially when theycan charge special ‘emergency’ rates (e.g. night or week-end work, extremely shortdeadlines, etc.). As one ‘high speed’ translator puts it: “Atranslatorwithabsolutelyno time management problems will not be a translator for very long”.Wishful thinkers may also live in the hope that higher tariffs will allow themto slow down a little, that clients will allow more time for the translation, andthat they will at long last be able to concentrate on quality and fine-tuning ratherthan mass production. . . But, when it comes to the crunch, the translator is boundhand and foot to the work provider and has to fit in with the latter’s workflow andorganisational practices, or try to change them, or turn down the contract.6. Managing the ‘in-between’ timesTranslation is strongly influenced by economic fluctuations. As we have alreadypointed out, translation volume is a good indicator of import and export levels,and translators are often the first to be affected by an economic slowdown andthe last to feel the benefits of a recovery, because translation is at best seen as anadjunct and not a core part of the products and the production process. This isa fact of life that translation service providers, whatever their status, just have toput up with.Under normal conditions, translation goes through a series of ‘natural’ cycles.These are determined first of all by the ups and downs in individual workproviders’ needs and requirements, and therefore in their translation needs. Butthe translation ‘cycles’ are also geared to budgetary considerations and to theavailability of funds (or liquidity constraints) at certain times of the year. Becauseof this, some times of year will always be slack, while others see a surge in demand.If translations are not carried out in-house, work providers do not suffer fromthis state of affairs. By externalising all their translation work, they transfer theimpact of the peaks and troughs onto the sub-contractors. The cyclical and oftenunpredictable nature of demand in the translation industry explains why so manycompanies rely on sub-contractors to take up the slack or to meet sudden surgesin business and why the translator always gets the short end of the stick.Translators can only try to soften the worst effects of erratic demand patternsby bringing their clients round to the idea of translation needs management byencouraging them to plan when their translation needs are likely to arise, in whichlanguage combinations, and what volumes will be required. If their clients can startplanning their needs two or three weeks (let us say, a couple of months) ahead,translators should be able to avoid getting cornered.