Pardon the attitude

I’ve been around since the prehistory of translation, when one had to erase the source text in Word and replace it with the target, search terms in a paper dictionary and documents were sent by fax, and NOTHING has improved in terms of awareness or education of translation buyers.

You can see it on LinkedIn too: when you try to give factual, technical information about localisation, nobody, except translators, shows interest.

Even as a consultant, when I am PAID to increase quality and production, employees don’t see why they should bother with learning new skills or changing practices – after all, anybody can translate: a meeting with the vendor, requesting a discount on the bad translations they deliver and on the stupid expensive tool they sold you (because no one understands what they’re buying), should fix all.

But the thing that bothers me more is the growing hypocrisy of businesses.

One of my prides, and something I really care about, is to pay our translators by the end of the month, no matter what.

However, all my customers have decided, in the last six months, to use invoicing platforms, where payment is automatically set to 60–80 days from the invoice date. It is impossible to speed the process even if you point out that this is illegal in Europe. These are the same companies who claim ethical ‘missions and values’, get awards for the ‘best place to work’, organise events to save the planet (the new trendy value) and boast their commitment to equal treatment between persons.

I am fascinated by this chequered morality, looking like a rug with holes in the most convenient places (as Cyrano de Bergerac would say: la conscience jaune encore de sommeil dans le coin de son ?il, un honneur chiffonné, des scrupules en deuil)*.

My role model, Cyrano

This might end up in my company setting vendors payment at 45 days instead of days, knowing very well that I am playing with people’s lives, because when you are a freelancer, it is distressing not to have a hold on your income. I am so depressed and feel so guilty only at the thought of it, that I even considered quitting. I feel like in a comic book, where the villain ends up turning the hero into a bad guy too.

But it’s not only me losing patience: working conditions are so bad that they led to a ‘great resignation’ in our industry too, and bottom feeder agencies have responded by investing massively in AI and Neural?machine?translation to compensate the lack of skilled professionals.

Sometimes, Machine Translation gets deep

The only improvement I see comes from the base, as usual. More and more translators refuse unfair rates, and on the other side there are many little (or ‘boutique’) translation agencies who offer fair rates. There is also a new ‘name and shame’ movement, which is not reaching translation buyers yet, but surely will – assuming said buyers care about fair practices : everybody stands with the oppressed ones on paper, yet we all forget about them when we go shopping.

It’s hard to be fair in an unfair world. I wish luck to all the ones who still believe it can make a difference.

Freelancers rising against Agenzie Zozzone

P.S.: if you want to know how to be sure your translation vendor treats translators ethically, PM me and I will tell you the only method that works.

*I wouldn’t go about, through negligence, with an insult un-avenged, or a conscience yellow with fear still, sleep in its eye-corner, or scruples dressed in black, the rags of honour. Translated by A. S. Kline