[GALA Valencia 2024] Hourly Rate vs. Paying by the Word: A Case Study on Translation Productivity

Most professions in the software and creative industries charge their work based on the hours used to produce the service, yet something as creative and complex as translation uses a word-based pricing model as a standard. With AI sweeping through the industry and disrupting all workflows, it's hard to see how the word rate will apply in the new translation landscape. Working in the software industry on the client side with outsourced developers and designers charging by the hour as the norm, we decided to try and see what happens when you switch from words to hours and start buying translation services the same way as other professional services. We embarked on a 12-month trial period paying for every single translation task by the hour.

Our expectation was to see an increase in costs and a slight increase in quality - but we were not at all prepared for the outcome we saw. In this presentation I will walk you through our journey, what changes we saw in our team and their productivity, quality, and the localization budget. The audience of this presentation will walk away with real-life examples of how to make the switch from words to hours, what the possible issues they face doing it might be, and what to expect as a result, i.e. is it worth the hype?

Host organization: Globalization and Localization Association