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Poll: Financially, for me, the first half of 2020 was:
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Jul 9, 2020

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Financially, for me, the first half of 2020 was:".

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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 10:10
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Good Jul 9, 2020

All in all, but with the usual ups and downs:

January: good
February; excellent
March: so, so
April: good
May: terrible
June: excellent


 
Michael Harris
Michael Harris  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 11:10
Member (2006)
German to English
Not so good Jul 9, 2020

As with Teresa:

January: good
February; good
March: excellent
April: 90% less
May: 90% less
June: excellent

And April and May are usually amongst my best months.

I am hoping that things will stay a little normal from now.


 
Paul Dixon
Paul Dixon  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 07:10
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Very bad Jul 9, 2020

Very bad, the worst period ever in history. I did get a couple of jobs but nowhere near what I need to pay bills.

Ventnai
Nora Escoms
Villő Ujvári
Sona Ozorakova
Marina Taffetani
 
Ventnai
Ventnai  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:10
German to English
+ ...
Down to around a third Jul 9, 2020

I am down to around a third of what I normally earn. I thought things had been picking up again recently but this week has been really slow again. I presume it must be due to lack of confidence among German manufacturers.

Hanaa Naser (X)
 
Luiz Barucke
Luiz Barucke  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 07:10
Spanish to Portuguese
+ ...
No income change Jul 9, 2020

During the first half of 2020, I kept the same average income in USD compared to 2019 as a whole, which is excellent.

I didn't notice any changes in work volume, but I definitively noticed changes in the characteristics of the work.

Almost the half of the content I worked on was directly or indirectly related to COVID (health guidance, clinical trials, procedure changes, new protocols, corporate communications/updates related, interruption/reactivation of airlines, hote
... See more
During the first half of 2020, I kept the same average income in USD compared to 2019 as a whole, which is excellent.

I didn't notice any changes in work volume, but I definitively noticed changes in the characteristics of the work.

Almost the half of the content I worked on was directly or indirectly related to COVID (health guidance, clinical trials, procedure changes, new protocols, corporate communications/updates related, interruption/reactivation of airlines, hotels, etc.).

And the TAT is also tighter now than it was before - everything seems urgent.

But luckily I didn't suffered from a lower workload or income rate at all. Actually, considering that my local currency had the worst performance against the USD during the last months, this was the best semester of my professional history in local currency income.

[Editada em 2020-07-09 12:36 GMT]
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Barbara Cochran, MFA
Barbara Cochran, MFA  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:10
Spanish to English
+ ...
Excellent Jul 9, 2020

Because I was paid in full for three book translations during the first three months of 2020.

 
Anastasia Kingsley Kinkusic
Anastasia Kingsley Kinkusic  Identity Verified
Member (2011)
Croatian to English
+ ...
Similar to Barbara Jul 9, 2020

I did ok thanks to end of the year jobs that carried me through March and early April. An extensive military contract, it was actually the most money I’d made so far in my entire career. Yes, a little nerve wracking in May, but I had money in the bank, took online courses and kept busy. I have been using my bike but it was time to face the inevitable and went car shopping (via taxi, since no buses) in late May 😁 which turned out to be a great decision. At this point, I’d have to say I’m... See more
I did ok thanks to end of the year jobs that carried me through March and early April. An extensive military contract, it was actually the most money I’d made so far in my entire career. Yes, a little nerve wracking in May, but I had money in the bank, took online courses and kept busy. I have been using my bike but it was time to face the inevitable and went car shopping (via taxi, since no buses) in late May 😁 which turned out to be a great decision. At this point, I’d have to say I’m pretty much back to normal. 🥰👌🙋‍♀️ 🚗Collapse


Barbara Cochran, MFA
 
Aline Amorim
Aline Amorim  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 07:10
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Good Jul 9, 2020

During the first half of 2020, I kept the same average income in USD and I took the opportunity to participate in several webinars and I learned Diversify achieve sustainability as a translator.

 
Elizabeth Tamblin
Elizabeth Tamblin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:10
French to English
Not sure Jul 9, 2020

I haven't analysed it yet, but there was a point when I was getting no work. Things have improved a bit over the last couple of months, but that is a fairly typical pattern for me. It's always unpredictable.

 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:10
Member
English to French
Decent Jul 9, 2020

So far so good.
I expected a much higher impact on my activity. In the end, figures show that this period wasn't that bad on my wallet, around 10% lower than an average semester.
I think I've had a few more idle moments, which I offset by taking on more than my reasonable daily feed at other times (only from my vetted agency clients).

Anastasia Kingsley Kinkusic wrote:
...went car shopping...

It must THE perfect time to buy cars. Sadly, my 250,000km Subaru, who's been coping with me since km0, just won't melt a rod or break a gear.

Philippe


 
Florian Wollenschein
Florian Wollenschein  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 11:10
Member (2013)
English to German
+ ...
Decent Jul 9, 2020

In total, the first 6 months were okay, but April and June were terrible.

January: Excellent
February: Good
March: Good
April: Terrible (70% less than last year)
May: Excellent
June: Terrible (70% less than last year)

And July did not start very well...

I hope it will still get better this year.


 
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 07:10
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Decent Jul 10, 2020

January and February were weak as usual.
From March to June, things got back into the track.
Only July was slower and worth than last year (so not the first half).
The reflexes of the COVID are being felt only now, in my case, and they will likely affect the finances only in August.
However, it's still the 10th, so there is still hope that things will improve enough for me to recover and not close August in overdraft.

[Edited at 2020-07-10 12:52 GMT]


 
Paul Dixon
Paul Dixon  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 07:10
Portuguese to English
+ ...
Very bad Jul 11, 2020

The first half of the year was very bad. I did get a few jobs, but nowhere near what I need to pay the bills. Brazil has been in a very bad crisis for at least five years and Covid has made things worse.
Even in the crisis, everything is so expensive here and prices are soaring, especially housing.


 
Lincoln Hui
Lincoln Hui  Identity Verified
Hong Kong
Local time: 18:10
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
Enough Jul 11, 2020

Paul Dixon wrote:

The first half of the year was very bad. I did get a few jobs, but nowhere near what I need to pay the bills. Brazil has been in a very bad crisis for at least five years and Covid has made things worse.
Even in the crisis, everything is so expensive here and prices are soaring, especially housing.

We can all recite your posts by heart now, you do not need to post the exact same thing twice in the same bloody thread.


Mario Freitas
 
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Poll: Financially, for me, the first half of 2020 was:






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