ARGENTINE PROJECT MANAGERS 2023 STATUS

Rosario Traducciones developed the 7th survey on the status of the translation industry in Argentina. Translators and project managers were asked about client scenarios, interests, knowledge, and expectations.

This annual survey identifies key industry indicators and findings that may help decision-making.

The survey participants live in Argentina, mainly in Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santa Fe. They are between 21 and 30 years old (19%), 31 and 40 years old (23%), 41 and 50 years old (31%), 51 and 60 years old (17%), 61 and 70 years old (7%) and over 70 years old (2%).

This article summarizes project managers’ input.

Project Manager Profile

Twenty-nine percent of surveyed project managers are women, and 71% are men. They all (100%) have worked in the industry for over ten years.

Concerning the type of contract, 75% work as employees, and 25% as employees and freelancers.

Forty-three percent give little importance to their professional profile on social media, 43% quite a lot, and 14% a great deal of importance.

Seventy-two percent are translators, 14% are engineers, and 14% have other basic training. In turn, 57% have completed specific courses on project management, and 43% think they should further their training.

The language pairs they manage are listed below:
● English - Spanish, 100%
● Portuguese - Spanish, 100 %
● German - Spanish, 75%
● Italian - Spanish, 75 %
● French - Spanish, 75 %
● Other: English - Portuguese; Chinese - Spanish; German - Portuguese

The Volume of Work and Prospects

Seventy-five percent reported that work increased over the last three years while it remained the same for 25%.

Over the next three years, 75% expect the workload to increase, while 25% expect it to stay the same.

Technology Impact on the Industry

Project managers expect that technology can help:
● Improve MT quality, 50%
● Make tools more efficient, 50%
● Improve knowledge management, 75%
● Enable the use of tools, 50%
● Facilitate integration, 50%
● Increase reuse, 25%
● Offer tools in more languages, 25 %
● Develop more robust tools, 25%

Artificial Intelligence Impact on the Industry

• Just another tool, advantages and disadvantages, 75%
• Remained neutral, 25%

Tools and Training

When asked what project management software they use, they answered:
● Plunet, 100%
● XTM, 75%
● Projetex, 75%
● WordBee, 50%

As for the project management software they prefer, they said:
● Plunet, 75%
● Projetex, 75%
● XTM, 25%

Lastly, concerning project management software, they admitted they needed training in the following:
● Projetex, 33.33%
● Plunet, 66.67%
● Gespoint Translator Business, 66.67%
● WordBee, 33.33%

The survey also asked them about what translation and editing software they use:
● Trados Studio, 100%
● MemoQ, 75%
● Xbench, 75%
● Wordfast, 50%
● Memsource, 75%
● XTRF, 50%
● Other: Weblate, Smartling

As for the translation and editing software that they prefer, they said:
● Xbench, 50%
● Trados Studio, 100%
● MemoQ, 50%
● XTRF, 25%
● Memsource, 25%

In turn, they need training in the following:
● XTRF, 66.67%
● MateCat, 33.33%
● Lilt, 33.33%
● Wordfast, 33.33%
● Catalyst, 33.33%
● MemoQ, 33.33%
● Xbench, 33.33%

The subjects they would like to receive training in are:
● Quality assurance, 50%
● Project management, 50%
● Machine translation/post-editing, 25%
● Marketing for translators, 50%
● Spanish language normative, 25%
● Access to new markets, 25%

Work Environment

The most valued aspect of a translation company is having a good work relationship and environment (4.4), followed by timely payments (3.2), job stability (3.0), and a decent contract coupled with a good attitude towards feedback or work-related issues (2.2).

Concerning the translator they assign projects to, they value the quality of translations (4.5), timely delivery (4.0), ongoing communication (3.0), time availability (2.5), and attitude towards feedback or work-related issues (1.0).

On the other hand, concerning the clients they work with, they value clear project guidelines (4.4), ongoing communication (3.6), having a good relationship with the client’s Project Manager (3.2), deadline flexibility (2.4), and rate flexibility (1.4).

Participants could rate each from 1 to 5, 5 being the highest score.

Note: *In some questions, participants could choose multiple options. For this reason, in some cases, the total percentage may exceed 100%.