“Canyou actually make a living from it?”

    Whilst I was waiting to collect my
daughter from school the other day, I got
chatting to one of the other m ums. She
knew I was ”in the language business” and
was keen to learn more. (She speaks some
French and loves holidaying in Provence,
you see.) Her first question was: “Can
you actually make a living from it?”
Yes, as a matter of fact you can.

You’ll need a lot more than a little
French and a love for French cuisine,
though.
She stopped short of asking exactly how
much I make in a year but I would have
been happy to tell her: less than a
London banker. As an AIIC member based in
London, Count Smorltalk, will tell you.
But I bet you’ll appreciate some hard
data that would let you compare your
professional situation with that of other
conference interpreters around the world,
not only in London. Read on then.
Every
few
years
AIIC,
the only
global
association of professional conference
interpreters, publishes a comprehensive
statistical report. It covers rates
charged by members of AIIC around the
world, average number of days worked in a
given year, billing units (e.g. day,
half-day), as well as job satisfaction.
In the latest report, for the first time
an attempt was made to estimate annual
gross income too.
The results of the last survey (2012) are
now out and have been summarised neatly
on the AIIC website: AIIC statistics:
Summary of the 2012 report. The evolution
of interpretation markets and demographics
around the world. Even a cursory glance
at the figures in the summary itself is
enough to realise what a huge amount of
data had to be processed and analysed. A
humongous task, well done to AIIC!
Who and where
The survey was conducted among AIIC
members only.
Stats from a given region come from
interpreters who do not necessarily work
in that region alone. In other words, the
rates UK-based interpreters report do not
necessarily mean “rates in the UK” (see
graph). Similarly, AIIC colleagues based
in Poland often work for the EU
institutions in Belgium, Luxembourg or
France – but their rates (and income) are
shown under “CECO”.
How much work did we have in 2012?
Unsurprisingly, the effects of the
financial crisis are still visible in the
amount of work reported. Almost half of
freelancers reported less – or much less!
– work in 2012 (cf. 2010 report),
especially in Western and Central
Europe. The world average number of days
worked in 2012 was 88, the lowest
recorded in the last 15 years. And there
were as many as 30 percent of respondents
who worked less than 50 days in 2012.
On average, half of all days come from
the private sector and ca. 30 percent
from what AIIC calls the agreement sector
(e.g. EU, UN). But in some markets
interpreters get more work on the
institutional market, especially in
countries with large intergovernmental
organisations (like Belgium or
Switzerland), or where interpreters are
mainly recruited by European institutions
(like CECO).
The ”number of days” metric should be put
in a wider context though. What we often
tend to forget – or rather our clients
might not be aware of – is that “work”
also means preparation and admin time. For
one day of actual booth work you might
need to add another one for preparation
(maybe even more, depending on the
meeting). See Julia Böhm‘s excellent
piece: Budgeting time and costs for
professional conference interpreters: who
wants to be a millionaire?. To those of
you who wish to learn more, especially
about time tracking, and are thinking
about changing their pricing strategy, I
highly recommend It pays to know where
your time goes ( parts 1 & 2) by Julia
Böhm again, Almute Löber and Ignacio
Hermo.
Is the pay-by-day principle still alive?
Yes, it is. In Western Europe (in the UK:
100 percent). Everywhere else interpreters
adapt to “special market requirements”, as
it is put in the report.
More sim or consec?
You can easily guess which mode was more
prevalent. Staff interpreters work almost
exclusively in simultaneous (a whopping 96
percent), but freelancers are close
enough: 85 percent of all their days were
in sim.
Where do I need to move to get the best
rates?
Switzerland, of course. Or Germany.
But don’t pack up just yet. Wait till you
see the income figures. You can demand
and get very high rates but your annual
income is a different kettle of fish (do
read Count Smorltalk’s post, if you
haven’t yet done so). Also, bear in mind
AIIC stats don’t tell you much
about purchasing power. Do the math. Which
will buy you more: 650 euro in New York
or 500 in Vilnius?
Average sim rates ranged from 340 euro in
Central America to over 1,000 in
Switzerland. In Europe, the lowest mean
rates were reported in Greece (400). The
UK & Ireland region, which I know best,
fared quite well, especially if you
consider the enormous price pressure from
agencies. Similarly, in spite of the
doom-and-gloom reports I hear from
colleagues in Poland, CECO’s stats don’t
come bottom of the rates table: 477 euro
per day. But again, the figures come from
AIIC members, who might work more better-
paid days abroad and in the agreement
sector - and are not exactly numerous in
the region anyway.
Average consec rates are higher than sim
in Western Europe, in some countries
significantly so (Switzerland with 1,200),
while in Central Europe they are
significantly lower (lower status,
considered easier?).
As you would expect, there is a gap
between the average rates on the private
market and what we get paid in the
agreement sector. Just look at
Switzerland! On the other side of the
scale you have countries with a much less
robust private market, where the agreement
sector rates are higher than the overall
mean private rate, viz. Eastern Europe,
South America, Africa and Turkey.
What matters most: annual income
Aaand… the winner is… Switzerland again!
Interestingly, Germany comes second rates-
wise, but falls to sixth position on the
income list. The US colleagues reported
lower rates but their overall annual
income is higher; they work more days.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Belgium, with its
EU sector, is number three in the income
table.
… but more importantly, can you make a
living out of interpreting?
Is your annual income sufficient if you
consider the cost of living, taxes,
insurance? How do you compare against
other professions in your country? These
are the crucial questions you need to ask
yourself before you decide to move to
Switzerland, or anywhere else for that
matter.
Especially that – here comes the big
surprise! – more than half of our Swiss
colleagues had an extra job! In the
Nordic countries that percentage goes up
to 70 (accounting for 30 percent of their
remunerative work).
So if you are thinking of moving, choose
Belgium. Looks like the majority of
interpreters there make a living
exclusively from interpreting.
Better yet, live in a low-cost region and
earn your money in Switzerland. Best deal
ever.
Hey, actually, what matters most is… job
satisfaction!
80 percent of respondents said they were
satisfied or very satisfied with their
profession. Although there is not one AIIC
region where the estimated annual gross
interpreting income would equal the
average London financial services salary.
Count Smorltalk and I agree: it’s all
relative and money isn’t everything. Eat
your heart out, banker!
———————————————
All graphs ©AIIC, published with
permission. Many thanks to AIIC Bureau and
Angela Keil
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