Poll: Which of these concerns you the most at the moment? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Which of these concerns you the most at the moment?".
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| | | | | Maintaining the clients I have... | Mar 12, 2025 |
Maintaining my client base is one of my priorities though new clients are always welcome…
| | | | Lieven Malaise 
Belgium
Local time: 05:24
Member (2020)
French to Dutch
+ ...
I’ve chosen the impact of AI because it’s basically all I read about on Proz, LinkedIn and Facebook. There’s no denying in the fact that this impacts my worries about the future of fulltime freelance translation.
Reality, however, is that my concerns haven’t changed a bit in 20 years of fulltime freelancing, because:
- I have enough customers for now.
- My work-life balance could be better, but that’s due to some personal decisions and has little to do w... See more I’ve chosen the impact of AI because it’s basically all I read about on Proz, LinkedIn and Facebook. There’s no denying in the fact that this impacts my worries about the future of fulltime freelance translation.
Reality, however, is that my concerns haven’t changed a bit in 20 years of fulltime freelancing, because:
- I have enough customers for now.
- My work-life balance could be better, but that’s due to some personal decisions and has little to do with AI. I do accept work that I possibly wouldn’t have accepted in the past (because of being too busy) out of concern that my business will fall apart from tomorrow on, but I’ve been “awaiting” that moment for years now and it simply doesn’t come (yet, I know).
- I don’t feel downward pressure on my rates.
- I don’t have problems maintaining my existing customers.
- I don’t have problems keeping up with new technology.
- My deadlines aren’t shrinking.
- My customers’ quality standards aren’t increasing. They always have been high, even with the introduction of MTPE.
So, don’t I have any concerns ? Of course I have. The same that I’ve got since day 1: continuously thinking that it’s all about to end. For 20 years now, and counting.
[Bijgewerkt op 2025-03-12 10:07 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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I opted for keeping the clients I have, or perhaps even "used to have" might be more accurate.
I know for a fact that AI is mainly responsible. They keep posting on LinkedIn about how fab AI is at doing everything for them in 4 nanoseconds flat
So I consider the AI option to be a (key) factor in the broader issue of maintaining existing clients (& indeed winning new ones).
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| Work-life balance | Mar 12, 2025 |
Lieven Malaise wrote:
- My work-life balance could be better, but that’s due to some personal decisions and has little to do with AI. I do accept work that I possibly wouldn’t have accepted in the past (because of being too busy) out of concern that my business will fall apart from tomorrow on...
Work-life balance is always tricky for freelance workers, especially in the current climate. As Lieven rightly says, the threat of suddenly being out of work (be it induced by the barrage of negative comments in various sites or due to legitimate concerns about future prospects) can be really stressing and wreak havoc in your mental health if left unchecked. That means that when you're not working, you're worrying about when the next assignment will hit your inbox, in a sort of endless loop with work at its center. Having to work weekends, holidays and at night, not having paid holidays or social benefits and having to save for retirement only add to the precariouness (and stress levels) of freelance work.
So work-life balance for me, since I wish I wouldn't have to be worrying about work all the time. And at times, I wonder if all the hustling is actually worth it...
[Edited at 2025-03-12 16:33 GMT]
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