Translator Work-Related Quality of Life report published

Executive summary

The 2024 Translator Work-Related Quality of Life (T-QRWoL) survey asked ITI members about various aspects of their working lives as professional translators. The survey aimed to measure the levels of their work satisfaction and career motivation and also to identify the elements influencing them. The survey received 381 valid responses from ITI members from across different membership categories.

• Respondents’ general quality of working life (T-WRQoL) and work satisfaction (T-SAT) were found to be moderately high.
• When compared with the benchmark scores of UK academic staff, our respondents’ T-WRQoL scores were higher on most aspects.
• However, not all aspects recorded high scores. Control at work, career success and sustainability and perceived utility of machine translation (MT) scored on average lower than neutral scores.
• Five attributes (gender, country, proportion of direct clients, age and professional experience) were found to affect the quality of their working lives.
• The amount of machine translation post-editing (MTPE) work respondents undertake was found to relate positively to two aspects of their working lives: engagement with MTPE and enjoyment gained from MTPE.
• On the other hand, the amount of MTPE work respondents undertake was found to relate negatively to seven aspects of their working lives: job fit, work provider engagement, control at work, professional network, general wellbeing, overall translator work satisfaction and perceived fairness of pay.
• The majority (66%) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they would stay in the profession for at least 5 years.
• Higher work-related quality of life and satisfaction were, not surprisingly, related positively to their 5-year career motivation. However, MTPE-related factors were not predictors of their intention to stay in the profession for the long term.
• In contrast to the positive figures about their intention to stay in the profession, some very pessimistic sentiments were observed in their narrative answers, indicating that some translators are seriously considering leaving the profession soon due to insufficient workload caused by the emerging influence from artificial intelligence (AI).

Conclusion

The survey results showed that our respondents’ general quality of working life (T-WRQoL) and work satisfaction (T-SAT) were found to be moderately high. However, it was also revealed that the respondents were not satisfied with some aspects of their working lives such as Control at Work, Career Success and Sustainability and Perceived Utility of MT.

The data identified that variables such as gender, country, proportion of direct clients, age and experience affect the level of work satisfaction and motivation of translators.

In addition, it was uncovered that the amount of MTPE work respondents undertake is an important factor that affects various aspects of their working lives. It is particularly alarming that the amount of MTPE work they undertake negatively affects a number of aspects, including Job Fit, Work Provider Engagement and perceived fairness of pay. The data also revealed that respondents who were willing to engage in MTPE work tended to have a Translation Studies degree, lower ITI membership status and less than 10 years of translation experience.

One of the main concerns of this study is the sustainability of the skilled translator workforce. The majority (66%) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they would stay in the profession for at least 5 years, which may sound quite positive. Yet, some attributes of the respondents were linked to lower motivation to stay in the profession. These included one’s country (i.e., the UK) and their target language (i.e., English). Higher T-WRQoL factors were (not surprisingly) strongly linked to their intention to stay in the profession, but their positive engagement with MTPE work was not an indicator of their long-term career commitment.

These results demonstrate that translators’ work satisfaction and motivation are complex constructs, which are affected both positively and negatively by a variety of factors. They also revealed that the current MTPE practices are exerting much influence on translators’ work satisfaction and motivation in a negative way. In order for the industry to maintain translators’ high work satisfaction and motivation, a series of initiatives and business policies will be required.