First of all, as I have been benefitting of your content, I have decided to become a member of the channel. Now, as for the video, because I became an OPI recently, I am working for a LSP that pays on the lower end, as I am based in Brazil. This difference in rates also applies to the other industry I do gigs, AI training. I understand they want to have more profit and lower costs, but what I earn, even for Brazilian standards, is not much. I believe it is the case in other LATAM countries too. Maybe there should be a sliding scale according to training, experience etc.
Hello there! Welcome and thank you for supporting me as a fellow interpreter! It seems like your input is definitely the general consensus and indeed it would be indeed beneficial for many of us to have a standardized set of scales for that purpose. It is clear that there are so many aspects that need to be worked to reach what we all are hoping to achieve. Your support makes it possible for me to keep making videos, so once again, thank you so much! Hope you have a wonderful rest of the year! ❤
One thing to take into account is no matter how much you try to improve, get certified, etc. LSPs DO NOT increase your salary if you’re a Non US based interpreter, and even if you wanted to get certified, the cost of these courses and tests is way too high for a Non US Based interpreter to cover, we just can’t afford it, this has been my personal experience so far. Ps. We certainly cannot live with a minimum wage, we’re just surviving with 6 dollars an hour, I can barely make ends meet!
Thank you, Mason, for the video. Unfortunately, for many of us, this has been a never-ending situation. It’s hard to believe all the things that have happened this year with a single company. During our last meeting with them, we discussed the possibility of a salary increase of at least $2 or $3 more per hour. However, they left us waiting for a miracle that was never going to happen.
Now you are right. I remember when I started as an interpreter for 3.5 USD per hour. My language skills were very good at the time but my cultural knowledge of many things in US had a lot of improvement to do. I can say after 2 years working as an interpreter I learned a lot and now at 6years of experience I feel my service is no lower in quality than a native speaker but there was an improvement curve. On the matter of the certification, sadly no BPO in LATAM cares about that and only think on reducing costs. I'd to get certification I'd know this would make my job and skills more appreciated but it is not the case.
I strongly disagree with what you propose as the solution. While I do think it is absolutely beneficial to keep learning and gaining certifications, etc.; individual action won't do it if what we want is for these companies to pay their employees better. The reason why they hire latam interpreters is because we're cheaper, meaning they reduce costs and profit more. And it does work for latin americans too because even being paid half the minimum wage in the US means a decent salary for us. The problem is they're taking too much advantage of this situation and taking it too far. Now it's no longer working for us. They keep offering lower and lower wages, with no work benefits and requesting us to work 8, 10, 12 or even more hours a day. And the way to stop this is by all interpreters getting together and joining forces to put a stop to this exploitation because it's getting out of hand. Companies will prioritize profit over everything else. So we need to get together and demand what we deserve: decent salaries, working conditions and quality of life. We need to make our voices heard, and we are stronger together (and louder). And if we don't speak up, no one will do it for us.
@@camischa Thank you so much for your thorough and coherent input! I am sure unionization is something many of us have been thinking about and talking about. I will surely try to put together some videos on it in the future!
YES! At this point it's abusive! I accept the lower pay because of different costs of living but why should I get way less money for doing the same job? And maybe i'm doing it better or I have more experience but they don't care, we're just numbers for these companies, ugh 😤
Very well summed up @Camischa . Globalization and cost cutting by LSP's is one thing and it has been going on for some time. Cost cutting lower and lower to abuse levels and not valuing your workforce worldwide is quite another! Interpreters in all different countries are in agreement and it's time for the industry to show they value linguists, as we highly value our profession.
I agree completely. They give us pennies and make much more they are willing to pay, but we have inflation too and they dont adjust our wages; for example recently Argentina has gotten expensive as hell, to the point medicine is more expensive than it is in Europe (spain), yet we're still getting paid the same.
I think its CRUCIAL to analize that latin american countries soecially capitals where most of interpreters live are getting extremely expensive by the year, also they should know that we are loosing like 8% of our poor wages to bring the money to our countries through paypal - and other apps to finally have them in our banks :(
So, you're saying I should get better so that EVENTUALLY these companies will wake up one day and decide they want to pay me more and get less money for themselves? Well, that's naive...
Hello there! Thank you for sharing how you feel. Frankly, I do agree with you that my view can be naive and somewhat distant from solving any of these immediate issues (although I would prefer to be called "optimistic".) The intent of sharing my thoughts in the video wasn't to say that's what all interpreters should do and nothing else. It was simply to share my view and spike more conversations, which I believe it is really important. Surely, I will try to make more videos in the future, perhaps something more realistic and applicable to these problems. Thank you for the comment once again, and I wish you a wonderful rest of the year!
Solution-wise, I agree. I hate competition personally, but without pushing oneself further to reach higher distinction and goals - to justify our competence and the pay rate we want, us in the eyes of LSPs will never be considered as being more worthy or considered worth paying for more. Heck, protests in front of offices might even bring more solutions than silently judging US-based colleagues in a loud manner online or suffering in doubts of why you're paid less than them.
@@jameboston .USA based interpreters can sue them easily..most of our interpreters can widely open their mouth 👄 only in dental clinic.not against the exploitation 😞👍🏾
Interpreter: let's get the rates higher and the recruitment process harder to guarantee a proper and quality service to the clients. LSP: barely any training and the lowest rate posible.
Thanks for another great video Mason. I do agree with you. However, the pay difference should make sense and not just be reduced drastically because of different living costs. For example, if they pay a US based interpreter $30 per hour, then in the country I live in they should pay at least $13 per hour since here 1 dollar is almost 4 times our currency. And of course other factors such as experience, certifications and recommendations must always be taken into consideration. Does that make sense?
Hello my fellow interpreter! Thank you for your input! I hear many interpreters expressing the wage discrepancy definitely isn't proportional to the factors I mentioned in the video which I couldn't agree more. The underlying problem is huge, but as an individual, I obviously cannot come up with a viable solution, which is sad but true . In the meantime, I am planning on making more videos on rights and fair treatment all interpreters deserve... so stay tuned! Always appreciate your support and happy holidays!
No one that interprets should live in a crummy apartment nor a hut,😅 in latam thats all those payments are good for. Any proffessional level should be 3k and up world wide.
tbh it doesn't matter if it's fair or unfair, what matters is whether lsps or companies find it profitable or not. Not long ago in Colombia, TP was in hot water because people moderating content for TikTok were being paid a 1/10 of what UK people doing the same job make. Their solution? They just stopped hiring Colombian people to do the job. The one holding the money makes the rules.
"tHe oNe hOldIng thE mOney maKeS tHe ruLes" you sound stupid and defeated. If atleast 50% of non US based interpreters stopped taking low pay rates then most companies would definitely raise their pay rates by a good percentage. Companies won't stop hiring in a country when there's so much demand for it. this isnt tik tok, shit head.
First of all, as I have been benefitting of your content, I have decided to become a member of the channel.
Now, as for the video, because I became an OPI recently, I am working for a LSP that pays on the lower end, as I am based in Brazil. This difference in rates also applies to the other industry I do gigs, AI training. I understand they want to have more profit and lower costs, but what I earn, even for Brazilian standards, is not much. I believe it is the case in other LATAM countries too. Maybe there should be a sliding scale according to training, experience etc.
Hello there! Welcome and thank you for supporting me as a fellow interpreter! It seems like your input is definitely the general consensus and indeed it would be indeed beneficial for many of us to have a standardized set of scales for that purpose. It is clear that there are so many aspects that need to be worked to reach what we all are hoping to achieve. Your support makes it possible for me to keep making videos, so once again, thank you so much! Hope you have a wonderful rest of the year! ❤
Thanks Mason. You are a great help in my interpreter career.
One thing to take into account is no matter how much you try to improve, get certified, etc. LSPs DO NOT increase your salary if you’re a Non US based interpreter, and even if you wanted to get certified, the cost of these courses and tests is way too high for a Non US Based interpreter to cover, we just can’t afford it, this has been my personal experience so far. Ps. We certainly cannot live with a minimum wage, we’re just surviving with 6 dollars an hour, I can barely make ends meet!
Thank you, Mason, for the video. Unfortunately, for many of us, this has been a never-ending situation. It’s hard to believe all the things that have happened this year with a single company. During our last meeting with them, we discussed the possibility of a salary increase of at least $2 or $3 more per hour. However, they left us waiting for a miracle that was never going to happen.
Now you are right. I remember when I started as an interpreter for 3.5 USD per hour. My language skills were very good at the time but my cultural knowledge of many things in US had a lot of improvement to do. I can say after 2 years working as an interpreter I learned a lot and now at 6years of experience I feel my service is no lower in quality than a native speaker but there was an improvement curve.
On the matter of the certification, sadly no BPO in LATAM cares about that and only think on reducing costs. I'd to get certification I'd know this would make my job and skills more appreciated but it is not the case.
I strongly disagree with what you propose as the solution. While I do think it is absolutely beneficial to keep learning and gaining certifications, etc.; individual action won't do it if what we want is for these companies to pay their employees better.
The reason why they hire latam interpreters is because we're cheaper, meaning they reduce costs and profit more. And it does work for latin americans too because even being paid half the minimum wage in the US means a decent salary for us.
The problem is they're taking too much advantage of this situation and taking it too far. Now it's no longer working for us. They keep offering lower and lower wages, with no work benefits and requesting us to work 8, 10, 12 or even more hours a day.
And the way to stop this is by all interpreters getting together and joining forces to put a stop to this exploitation because it's getting out of hand.
Companies will prioritize profit over everything else. So we need to get together and demand what we deserve: decent salaries, working conditions and quality of life.
We need to make our voices heard, and we are stronger together (and louder). And if we don't speak up, no one will do it for us.
what she said!✊
@@camischa Thank you so much for your thorough and coherent input! I am sure unionization is something many of us have been thinking about and talking about. I will surely try to put together some videos on it in the future!
YES! At this point it's abusive! I accept the lower pay because of different costs of living but why should I get way less money for doing the same job? And maybe i'm doing it better or I have more experience but they don't care, we're just numbers for these companies, ugh 😤
Very well summed up @Camischa . Globalization and cost cutting by LSP's is one thing and it has been going on for some time. Cost cutting lower and lower to abuse levels and not valuing your workforce worldwide is quite another! Interpreters in all different countries are in agreement and it's time for the industry to show they value linguists, as we highly value our profession.
I agree completely. They give us pennies and make much more they are willing to pay, but we have inflation too and they dont adjust our wages; for example recently Argentina has gotten expensive as hell, to the point medicine is more expensive than it is in Europe (spain), yet we're still getting paid the same.
I think its CRUCIAL to analize that latin american countries soecially capitals where most of interpreters live are getting extremely expensive by the year, also they should know that we are loosing like 8% of our poor wages to bring the money to our countries through paypal - and other apps to finally have them in our banks :(
So, you're saying I should get better so that EVENTUALLY these companies will wake up one day and decide they want to pay me more and get less money for themselves? Well, that's naive...
It's not only naive, but it's the way capitalism works, where people actually think we live in a meritocracy
Hello there! Thank you for sharing how you feel.
Frankly, I do agree with you that my view can be naive and somewhat distant from solving any of these immediate issues (although I would prefer to be called "optimistic".) The intent of sharing my thoughts in the video wasn't to say that's what all interpreters should do and nothing else. It was simply to share my view and spike more conversations, which I believe it is really important. Surely, I will try to make more videos in the future, perhaps something more realistic and applicable to these problems.
Thank you for the comment once again, and I wish you a wonderful rest of the year!
Solution-wise, I agree. I hate competition personally, but without pushing oneself further to reach higher distinction and goals - to justify our competence and the pay rate we want, us in the eyes of LSPs will never be considered as being more worthy or considered worth paying for more. Heck, protests in front of offices might even bring more solutions than silently judging US-based colleagues in a loud manner online or suffering in doubts of why you're paid less than them.
@@jameboston .USA based interpreters can sue them easily..most of our interpreters can widely open their mouth 👄 only in dental clinic.not against the exploitation 😞👍🏾
Interpreter: let's get the rates higher and the recruitment process harder to guarantee a proper and quality service to the clients.
LSP: barely any training and the lowest rate posible.
Sad but on point!
Thanks for another great video Mason. I do agree with you. However, the pay difference should make sense and not just be reduced drastically because of different living costs.
For example, if they pay a US based interpreter $30 per hour, then in the country I live in they should pay at least $13 per hour since here 1 dollar is almost 4 times our currency. And of course other factors such as experience, certifications and recommendations must always be taken into consideration.
Does that make sense?
Hello my fellow interpreter! Thank you for your input! I hear many interpreters expressing the wage discrepancy definitely isn't proportional to the factors I mentioned in the video which I couldn't agree more. The underlying problem is huge, but as an individual, I obviously cannot come up with a viable solution, which is sad but true . In the meantime, I am planning on making more videos on rights and fair treatment all interpreters deserve... so stay tuned! Always appreciate your support and happy holidays!
No one that interprets should live in a crummy apartment nor a hut,😅 in latam thats all those payments are good for. Any proffessional level should be 3k and up world wide.
Between 5-8 $min opi and 9-12$ vri. Sounds ridiculous but that is how the sausage is made.
Thanks
I got 0.60 cents..but in 8 hrs maximum two calls.and some time finished with zero income per day in freelance shift 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
Exactly, just the fact that majority of industry is freelance is sick. You can end day with no income
voyce said good bye call poachers
what does this mean??
tbh it doesn't matter if it's fair or unfair, what matters is whether lsps or companies find it profitable or not. Not long ago in Colombia, TP was in hot water because people moderating content for TikTok were being paid a 1/10 of what UK people doing the same job make. Their solution? They just stopped hiring Colombian people to do the job.
The one holding the money makes the rules.
"tHe oNe hOldIng thE mOney maKeS tHe ruLes"
you sound stupid and defeated. If atleast 50% of non US based interpreters stopped taking low pay rates then most companies would definitely raise their pay rates by a good percentage. Companies won't stop hiring in a country when there's so much demand for it. this isnt tik tok, shit head.
Thanks