「ギグ（gig）」とは、元々はジャズやロックなどで、即興でミュージシャン同士が、音合わせを兼ねて、その場限りの演奏をやってみることを意味し、それが転じて、「単発の仕事」という意味で広く使われるようになったそうです。
Definition of the Gig Economy
The term “gig economy” refers to a general workforce environment in which short-term engagements, temporary contracts, and independent contracting is commonplace. It’s also referred to as the “freelancer economy,” “agile workforce,” “sharing economy,” or “independent workforce.” You might think it’s a buzzword, and you’d be right, but the widespread growth of startups supporting the gig economy (and the number of workers leveraging them) are a sure indication that the nature of work as we know it is changing.
Studies estimate that by the year 2020, 43 percent of the American workforce will consist of independent contractors. With digitization and automation threatening some traditional jobs, the freelance economy can provide job security, but not in the traditional sense.
In the freelance economy, workers operate as independent contractors, meaning their clients pay them an agreed-upon rate for services rendered. In an independent contracting arrangement, workers are responsible for saving and paying their own taxes and aren’t eligible for the typical benefits of full-time employment such as access to group health insurance or retirement investments and savings accounts. But thanks to the rise of the independent workforce, benefits such as health insurance coverage, independent retirement accounts (IRAs), and liability and accident insurance are more accessible than ever before. Plus, workers operating as independent contractors get to take advantage of the tax benefits of operating their own business, including tax deductions for non-reimbursed operating expenses such as travel, supplies, and the like.
（Angela Stringfellow A writer focusing on news, trends, and insights in marketing, business, and technology）
企業や組織に属さず、ネットを通じて個人で単発の仕事をとる働き方が広がっています。IT関連業務に限らず、翻訳やマーケティング、法務、会計、コンサルティングなど職種も多様になってきました。AIの発達でさまざまな仕事が消えていくなか、国境を越えてオンラインで人々が仕事を取り合う「フリーランス」の時代になるのでしょうか。
「アップワーク」 や「リンクトイン・プロファインダー」 といった数多くのギグエコノミーサービスで紹介される仕事を好きなように組み合わせられるということでもあります。
マッキンゼーの調査によれば、米国と欧州連合（EU）各国では約6400万人が、必要に迫られてではなく自らの選択で、本業に加えてこうしたギグワークを請け負っていると言います。
また、米国Intuitの調査によると、2020年までにアメリカ人労働者の43％がフリーエージェントとしての独立請負業者になると予測されています。また、オックスフォード大学のインターネット研究所が2017年7月に発表したレポートでは、すでに過去1年間で26％も拡大したことが報告されています。
マスコミでは、国境越えて仕事を奪い合う時代が来るのか 、と騒ぎ立てているようですが、
そのようなネガティブにとらえるのはマスコミの得意技、むしろポジティブにとらえるべきと考えます。
しかし、こうした国を超えた人材の自由な移動は、一見、移民と同一視されがちですが、国のアイデンティティ喪失につながる危険な移民受け入れとは根底が違うと理解すべきと考えます。移民政策はその国固有の文化を守るという立場からも安易にすべきでないと信じます。
ちなみに、実態は、日本への流入者は前年比約5万5,000人増の39万人1,000人。ドイツ（約201万6,000人）、米国（約105万1,000人）、英国（47万9,000人）に次ぐ、堂々の4位だそうです（OECD加盟35カ国中）。他の先進国が移民受け入れで国が破壊されるなか、政策を転換しているなか我が国は何を考えてこれを進めようとしているのでしょうか。
この稿では、ギグ・エコノミーの時代、ネット上で国を越えて働くクラウドワーカーの中でも古い職種であるプロフェショナルトランスレータを考えてみたいと思います
翻って、プロフッションとは英語のprofessを語源としていることはご存知でしょう。Professとは神の前で宣言する、という意味をもち、中世ヨーロッパでは神の前に誓いを立てて従事する職業として、神父、医師、法律家、会計士、教師等の専門家を指していました。彼らは職業を通して神、社会に対して責任を負うという厳しい倫理観で自らを律していたと言います。
参考までに、プロフェッションならびにプロフェッショナルの概念については様々な定義がありますがその一つを紹介しますと、
① 専門的知識・技術に基づく仕事に従事していること
② その知識や技術は,一定の外部汎用性を備えたものでなければならない
③ 外部に専門家団体もしくは専門家社会が存在し,何らかの形で能力その他を評価するシステムが備わっている。また、 これらの能力的及び倫理的基準を維持することを主目的とした職業団体が存在していること
プロフェショナリズムを重んじる翻訳の各国の団体、私の関わる日本のＪＴＡ( Japan Translation Association)、アメリカのＡＴＡ(American Translators Association)、イギリスのＩＴＩ(Institute of Translators and Interpreters)、オーストラリアのNAATI(National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters) 等はその倫理基準を明示しています。
私としてはこの辺を踏まえて、Professional Translatorとしては一定の矜持をもってクラウドワーキングをしてもらいたいと考えます。それには、まずは翻訳者としてのプロフェショナルブランディングを創りあげることから全てが始まります。
翻訳者として自信をもって臨めるどの分野を専門としたいのか。また、それをどう発展させていきたいのか、自分のプロフェションのドメインを確立することが重要です。そして、その社会的役割を深く認識することが必要と考えます。
そのうえで、方法として、個人事業主としてスタートするのか、株式会社としてスタートするのかを決めることになります。言うまでもない事ですが、法人組織としてスタートするメリットは、営業のしやすさ、言い換えれば経験証明となること、税務のメリットがあること。また、重要なのは有限責任であることはご存知の通りです。
こうして翻訳者としてのプロフェショナリズムを胸に、仕事に臨んでもらいたいと考えます。
日本でも、ウーバーやWeWorkなども上陸し、新しい働き方の認識は着々と進んできていると言えます。しかし実態は、やっと副業・兼業という働き方が容認される環境になってきたという状況でしょう。政府主導ながら「働き方改革」推進のおかげで、テレワークを実施する企業がようやく増えつつある段階のようです。
しかし、ギグ・エコノミーの労働市場が国内に限定されることのない幅広い人材の選択を可能にしているとすれば、日本国内の法制度や働き方の環境がまだ整っていないことは、むしろグローバルのギグワーカーの活用を推進させることになるかもしれません。
いずれにせよ、始まっているギグ・エコノミーの時代。先発組のProfessional Translatorとしては高度な自己マネジメント、プロフェショナルブランディングが求められる時代に入っているのでしょう。
[:en]
Tomoki Hotta
Vice Chancellor
Babel University Professional School of Translation
Professional Branding” Demanded from Professional Translators in the Gig Economy Era
The term “gig” was initially used for jazz and rock music, when musicians would improvise while tuning their instruments, thus performing music on the spot. This term has become widely used to describe short-term work.
Definition of the Gig Economy
The term “gig economy” refers to a general workforce environment in which short-term engagements, temporary contracts, and independent contracting is commonplace. It’s also referred to as the “freelancer economy,” “agile workforce,” “sharing economy,” or “independent workforce.” You might think it’s a buzzword, and you’d be right, but the widespread growth of startups supporting the gig economy (and the number of workers leveraging them) are a sure indication that the nature of work as we know it is changing.
Studies estimate that by the year 2020, 43 percent of the American workforce will consist of independent contractors. With digitization and automation threatening some traditional jobs, the freelance economy can provide job security, but not in the traditional sense.
In the freelance economy, workers operate as independent contractors, meaning their clients pay them an agreed-upon rate for services rendered. In an independent contracting arrangement, workers are responsible for saving and paying their own taxes and aren’t eligible for the typical benefits of full-time employment such as access to group health insurance or retirement investments and savings accounts. But thanks to the rise of the independent workforce, benefits such as health insurance coverage, independent retirement accounts (IRAs), and liability and accident insurance are more accessible than ever before. Plus, workers operating as independent contractors get to take advantage of the tax benefits of operating their own business, including tax deductions for non-reimbursed operating expenses such as travel, supplies, and the like.
（Angela Stringfellow, a writer focusing on news, trends, and insights in marketing, business, and technology）
The type of working where workers don’t belong to a corporation or organization but receive independent work via the Internet is increasing. Such independent jobs aren’t restricted to IT related work; jobs have become diversified in translation, marketing, law, accounting, consulting, and other professions as well. With the development of AI, which has led to various types of work becoming things of the past, it appears we are entering an era of freelance work, where people surpass national borders as they contend online for jobs.
Through several gig economy services such as Upwork and LinkedIn, which provide opportunities for freelance work, users can pick and choose work as they please.
According to a survey conducted by McKinsey & Company, 64 million people in the US and EU take on at least one gig work in addition to their main occupation, not because they need to, but because they want to.
In addition, according to a survey by the US company Intuit, by 2020 43% of American workers are estimated to work as free agents and become independent contractors. Also, in a report published in July 2017 by Oxford University’s research institute, it was reported that over the prior year independent contractors had increased by 26%.
The media appears to be creating a stir, stating that we could be entering an era where people surpass national borders as they scramble for work. Although the media is adept at viewing things in a negative light, this new trend should rather be considered positively.
Although this free movement of talent surpassing national borders may appear to be the same as immigration, it must be understood that this type of employment is fundamentally different from dangerous policies accepting immigrants that can lead to a country’s loss of identity. From the viewpoint of protecting a country’s unique culture, I firmly believe that immigration should not be something taken lightly.
As a side note, regarding Japan’s current status concerning immigration, the influx of foreigners to Japan in the last year has increased by 55,000 to 391,000 people. This puts Japan in a secure 4th place (among the 35 member countries of OECD), behind Germany (2.016 million), the US (1.051 million), and England (479,000). Because other developed countries are being destroyed by accepting large numbers of immigrants, I wonder what Japan is thinking as it tries to move forward with altering its immigration policies.
In this article, let’s look at professional translators – one of the older occupations for cloud workers surpassing national borders via the Internet – and the gig economy era.
Considering this matter, did you know that the term “profession” comes from the English word “to profess”? To profess is to declare before God, and in medieval Europe workers in the following professions made a vow before God before engaging in their occupation: priests, doctors, lawyers, accountants, teachers, and other specialists. It’s said that such professionals governed themselves with strict ethical values in which they were responsible to God and society when engaging in their work.
As a reference, there are various definitions regarding the concept of a professional, of which the following are some examples.
1. A professional is engaged in work based on expert knowledge and technology.
2. Such expert knowledge and technology must have a certain general versatility.
3. There must be an outside specialist organization or society in which there’s a system in place for evaluating in some way skills and other elements of professionals’ work. Also, a professional organization(s) must exist whose main purpose is to maintain standards in skill and ethics for that profession.
Translation organizations in various countries that esteem professionalism, such as Japan Translation Association (JTA), American Translators Association (ATA), the Institute of Translators and Interpreters in England (ITI), and the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters in Australia (NAATI), clearly express such ethical standards.
With this in mind, I’d like those working in translation to have a certain pride as professional translators as they engage in cloud working. To do so starts first with creating professional branding as a translator.
What field do you feel confident in specializing in as a translator? How are you going to develop in that field? As a translator, it’s important to establish your own profession domain. Then, you need to recognize deeply your role as a translator in society.
In addition, when starting out as a professional translator, you need to decide if you’re going to start out as a sole proprietor or a joint-stock company. Most people are familiar with the merits of starting as a corporation such as ease of operation, proof of experience, and taxation. As you also probably know, it’s important also to have limited liability.
I hope translators will endeavor in their work with this sense of professionalism in mind.
Even in Japan, companies such as Uber and WeWork have infiltrated their way in, and this new idea of working is gradually spreading. However, the reality is that Japan has just reached the stage where side jobs and business as a form of working have gained acceptance. Thanks to the largely government-led promotion of a “working style reformation,” Japan’s finally at the stage where the number of corporations that institute teleworking is increasing.
In the gig economy labor market, in order to make it possible to choose from a wide range of talent that isn’t limited to those within Japan, the fact that the environment of Japan’s legal system and work style is still not organized might actually help to propel activity among global gig-workers.
In any case, the gig economy era has begun. We’ve entered an era where the advanced self-management and professional branding that professional translators exemplify is being demanded.
From The Professional Translator
November 26, 2018
BABEL PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL OF TRANSLATION