Tag: BUsiness
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Are You an Employer Who Values Transferable Skills, Linguistic Expertise, and Freelance Experience? It’s Time to Recognize What Translators Can Bring
When employers recruit, they often search for candidates with specific job titles and industry backgrounds. Yet some of the most capable professionals may not fit neatly into those categories. A candidate’s competence should not be defined by their job title but by their transferable skills and expertise. Many translators and interpreters have spent years developing…
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Why Don’t Translators Just Get More Direct Clients?
One of the most common responses from professional organisations to concerns about declining rates and deteriorating working conditions is to advise translators to “get more direct clients.” But is this sound advice, and is it free from contradictory institutional incentives? As part of my ongoing work on re-politicising translation labour and developing a theory of…
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Repoliticising Institutional Hybridity and Governmentality: Towards Meaningful Change in Labour Representation by Professional Interpreters for Justice
In this work, I build on my proposed theory of change for the translation and interpreting sector. It examines the structure and role of the umbrella organisation Professional Interpreters for Justice (PI4J) within outsourced public service interpreting, as part of a broader effort to repoliticise interpreting and translation labour and to analyse the structural organisation…
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The Government Has Admitted the Current Framework “Does Not Prevent Worker Exploitation and Leaves Vulnerable Workers without Core Employment Protections.”
I received a ministerial reply from the Cabinet Office in response to concerns I raised about public supply chains, outsourcing, equality obligations, and precarious labour arrangements affecting interpreters and other workers in publicly funded services. A copy of the correspondence is included at the end of this article. The response was issued following my open…
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Should Translators Pay to Play “Happy Community” with LSPs While Exploitation and Precarity Go Unaddressed? Urgent Changes Needed to ITI’s Conference
I am writing ahead of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) conference because I believe meaningful change is still possible. My aim is not only to critique ITI, but to contribute to a discussion about what translators and interpreters urgently need from professional institutions at a time of intensifying precarity and labour insecurity, as…
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We Need a Fair Translation Industry — Not Complicit Collaboration nor “Adaptability” to Exploitation
By Fardous Bahbouh, Researcher & Consultant on Labour Rights, Public Policy, and the Political Economy of the Translation Industry The translation and interpreting industry, and some academics, keep talking about adaptability, flexibility, and collaboration. But these buzzwords often mask a deeper problem: exploitation. What we need is fairness, not compliance to algorithms or precarious systems.…
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The Precariat: Critical Insights for Translators and Interpreters in an Age of Insecurity
By Fardous Bahbouh, Researcher & Consultant on Labour Rights, Public Policy, and the Political Economy of the Translation Industry In today’s fast-changing labour market, translators and interpreters are increasingly facing precarious working conditions and intensifying insecurities. The Precariat (2021) is an excellent book by economist Guy Standing that captures the lived realities of workers who…
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Before Setting New Year’s Resolutions: Beware the Trap of CPD for Precarious Workers (AKA Freelancers)
By Fardous Bahbouh, Researcher & Consultant on Labour Rights, Public Policy, and the Political Economy of the Translation Industry As the festive season approaches, a time meant to be joyful can often feel like a storm of financial stress, social anxiety, and forced cheerfulness. For freelancers, especially those in exploitive sectors like the outsourced public…
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Do You Know Which Language Has Invisible Vowels?
Languages are full of unique features that make them fascinating to learn and explore. From complex grammar to unusual vocabulary, each language has its own distinct characteristics. One interesting feature that many people may not be aware of is invisible vowels. In certain languages, some vowels are not always written out, but they still play…
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Why Arabic Script Keep shifting In Posters And Videos?
The Arabic script is one of the most beautiful and complex writing systems in the world. It is widely used across the Middle East and North Africa, and its calligraphic style has been admired for centuries. However, one common issue that arises when using the Arabic script in design is the tendency for the letters…
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Yes, Professional Translation Is Still Worth It!
Translation is the art of transferring meaning from one language to another. It has been an essential aspect of communication since the dawn of civilization. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, the need for translation is only growing. Despite the development of advanced language technology, translation remains a critical tool for global communication, and it…
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