Coronavirus - effects in Spain
Thread poster: Nicholas Isard
Nicholas Isard
Nicholas Isard  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:41
Member (2020)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Apr 13, 2020

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if colleagues in Spain are seeing their work affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Are you seeing a slowdown in the amount of work you're getting? How do you see this panning out over the next few months?

This post is aimed at freelancers based in Spain, but of course any contributions from those in other countries are also very welcome.

Best,
Nick


 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:41
Member
English to French
Yes Apr 13, 2020

Although March was quite a good month, April has been a bit lethargic so far.
However, I don't think it's got much to do with Spain proper. I hardly have any Spanish clients, and the agencies I work with are from various parts of Europe, impacted at various degrees from light to heavy.
With translation being such a globalised and confinment-friendly business, I would assume that any slowdown in business relates more to the industries you cater for than the country you live in. Busin
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Although March was quite a good month, April has been a bit lethargic so far.
However, I don't think it's got much to do with Spain proper. I hardly have any Spanish clients, and the agencies I work with are from various parts of Europe, impacted at various degrees from light to heavy.
With translation being such a globalised and confinment-friendly business, I would assume that any slowdown in business relates more to the industries you cater for than the country you live in. Business temporary shut-downs and decreases in commodity exchanges and production around the world are bound to affect every service provider in every business, and the lack of visibility doesn't help in betting on the future.

I don't expect the business to pick up any time soon, and it will take months to get back to normal. I've braced myself.

Philippe
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Fatine Echenique
Nicholas Isard
Sabrina Bruna
Constanze Deus-Konrad
Josephine Cassar
Ezequiel Fernandez
 
Nicholas Isard
Nicholas Isard  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:41
Member (2020)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Agree Apr 13, 2020

Hi Philippe,

Yes, I think you're right. What do you mean by a "lack of visibility". Of translators?

Best,
Nick


 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:41
Member
English to French
Impossible for businesses to forecast anything Apr 13, 2020

Nicholas Isard wrote:
...What do you mean by a "lack of visibility"...

Sorry for the vagueness. I was referring to how uncertain the future is for businesses of all kinds.
This pandemic is a world-first in the post-modern era. Businesses in general have no hard facts to anticipate how next months will roll out - un-locking down, second wave of infection, border closures, restrictions in travel, differed contamination, research progress, etc. - , when they can expect sales to reach their previous levels if ever, how much they need to protect themselves from an unknown length of time without income...

And all those consumers stranded at home and/or who will lose their jobs and buying power, how long will it take them to become frantic consumers again, like there's no tomorrow (paradoxically), so that the global production motor can run again at full load?

Learning the lessons of what's happening would be nice to help shape the future. Let's see how we'll take all this on board for when the climate change affects our daily lives for good, from a harmless flu in remote countries (ice caps or plancton) to a global and deadlier-than-expected pandemic (water).

Philippe

[Edited at 2020-04-13 10:32 GMT]


 
Eugenio Garcia-Salmones
Eugenio Garcia-Salmones  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:41
Member (2015)
Russian to Spanish
+ ...
I doubt Apr 13, 2020

I doubt that anyone can continue to work like nothing's happening. International trade is at a standstill and few projects can emerge in this context, with almost all economies at a standstill. We are facing some very difficult months...

Philippe Etienne
Sabrina Bruna
Constanze Deus-Konrad
expressisverbis
Sabine Braun
Jo Macdonald
 
Jo Macdonald
Jo Macdonald  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:41
Member (2005)
Italian to English
+ ...
Effects Apr 13, 2020

I'm based in Spain and mainly work with Italian and Spanish clients. March was slow (over a 75% reduction in work) so I've applied for the emergency benefit the Spanish government is providing, €660/month and exemption from social security payments for as long as the state of emergency lasts, plus I applied for all the tax payment postponements they're offering.

As I drove over to GB to be with mum who's 85 as soon as it looked like this was going to get nasty at the beginning of
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I'm based in Spain and mainly work with Italian and Spanish clients. March was slow (over a 75% reduction in work) so I've applied for the emergency benefit the Spanish government is providing, €660/month and exemption from social security payments for as long as the state of emergency lasts, plus I applied for all the tax payment postponements they're offering.

As I drove over to GB to be with mum who's 85 as soon as it looked like this was going to get nasty at the beginning of March I've cancelled all unnecessary expenses at home such as bike insurance, Wifi landline contract, reduced Proz Plus membership to standard and anything else I can think of to get costs down to about €500/month until work starts up again.

I've signed up for voluntary work and done about two day's paid work so far in April.

I'm paying very close attention to my invoice payment deadlines and have had only a few problems so far, all happily resolved using the usual persuasive tactics. Be patient, watch out for warning signs, check the Blue Board more often than you used to also for regular clients.

Touch base with clients, take the opportunity to learn new tools, update CVs and online profiles, offer new services.

Imo we'll start getting back on track towards June-July, places like China, Australia, South Korea sooner maybe.

Stay safe

[Edited at 2020-04-13 11:18 GMT]
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Anna Gorska
 
Philippe Etienne
Philippe Etienne  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:41
Member
English to French
Track outsourcer Apr 13, 2020

Jo Macdonald wrote:
...check the Blue Board more often than you used to also for regular clients...

To this end, there is a button "Track outsourcer" that notifies you by e-mail whenever a new LWA score is posted (I suppose only for paid users). Then you know instantly about BB updates.

Philippe


 
Jo Macdonald
Jo Macdonald  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:41
Member (2005)
Italian to English
+ ...
Thanks Philippe Apr 13, 2020

Very useful in these troubled times. Didn't know about that.

 
Nicholas Isard
Nicholas Isard  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:41
Member (2020)
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Updates May 19, 2020

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering what your experiences are now, a month on. Are you back to your pre-coronavirus workload or are you continuing to see a drop in volume?

I hope everyone is well!

Nick


 


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Coronavirus - effects in Spain






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