How multi-layer outsourcing undermines language talent

It’s the early days of January 2020. In less than a month, both coronavirus and Brexit will hit Europe.

I get a message in my LinkedIn inbox.

Hi Elisa,

Came across your profile and it’s a great fit for an exciting opportunity with our client in [European city] as a [language specialist role].

You’d join a multicultural environment with full training, great facilities and a relocation package. Let me know if you’re interested!

Yes, it’s one of those “exciting opportunities” where the “multicultural environment” is presented as a benefit rather than the norm for most international applicants.

But it’s a vulnerable time, so I choose to ignore the warning signs and reply to the message.

In the weeks that follow, I’m interviewed twice. I endure a recruiter yawning in my face without covering his mouth as I talk about my work experience.

Then, silence.

A month passes and I’m told the position has been “closed by the client”. I stay in touch with the agency anyway, but no more concrete offers come after the first one, and I just move on.

Why am I embarrassing myself with this story?

Because, after over six years, it keeps repeating.

A few weeks ago I was transported back in time after receiving an email that sounded suspiciously similar to the message above.

I check, and it’s a similar type of operation. It’s 2020 all over again, plus AI and a few new wars.

I compare the old message with the new email, and sadly they have many things in common. Way too many. 

So, let’s go through the new email.

What does an exciting opportunity look like for language talent in 2026?

The candidate is willing to relocate to a different European country and start working on-site within weeks of the first contact.

The workweek is Monday to Sunday on a 24/7 schedule with rotating shifts of 8 hours, including night shifts from 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM, and two rotating days off per week.

Given all that, surely the next sentence will be about how competitive the salary is, right?

No.

The base compensation, pumped up with a generic bonus and daily meal allowance, is unlivable even by Southern European standards.

They do provide affordable accommodation for a while as part of the relocation package, but your flight will be reimbursed after six months.

There’s an additional welcome bonus that is paid in twelve monthly installments, presumably to retain new hires longer.

And the role match is perhaps even more worrying. It’s about helping patients and healthcare professionals operate a home medical device for a chronic condition.

The requirements? My native Italian, a high-school diploma and the ever-present “customer-first approach”.

Six years ago I was offered product localization and QA, so at least it was relevant to my resume. This time they’re setting me up with something that’s as high-stakes as it is random, and I’m obviously unqualified for it.

Reddit posters have reported that agencies like this are part of a multi-layer outsourcing arrangement.

The client, usually a large corporation, outsources recruitment to an international consultancy, which in turn subcontracts to regional staffing agencies.

Each intermediary takes a cut. The worker at the end of the line is left with peanuts.

Those of us who already have a few years of experience under our belt may no longer get these offers as often, or maybe we’ve just learned to automatically filter them out.

But the underlying structures are still in place, and early-career colleagues are paying the price.

Whether intentionally or due to a CRM slip, I got swept into the funnel once again, and caught a glimpse of it first-hand.

Same copy-pasted messages, same grim conditions. And even the same recipients, who are expected to uproot their lives on a whim in exchange for borderline pay, underwhelming perks and vague growth prospects. 

What I see is a system built on squeezing value out of the people with the least leverage, while cutting as many corners as they can get away with.

Even the agency recruiters, who are multilingual and living abroad themselves, don’t seem too concerned about the market they help sustain, or how they’re effectively undermining other language professionals.

There’s a fundamental lack of understanding about language work at the root of these hierarchies. As long as you list a language other than English, your LinkedIn profile can be scraped and scrambled to fill an open spot in one of many locations.

Oh, you’re a native Spanish speaker? Here, take a look at this travel advisor position in Poland. You studied French at university? I bet you’ll love this opportunity to work in content moderation from Greece: it’s night shifts!

But if it gets to the point where they can’t tell the difference between entry-level back-office work and setting up medical devices, we’re all in trouble. The workers, the agency, the consultancy, the client and, most of all, the patients.

The turnover may be high but ultimately it still works out cheaper for the client, so there’s no reason to stop or rethink the process.

Do you recognize yourself in these stories as a language professional? Have you experienced anything similar?

If so, let me know. I’d love to hear from you.

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Ciao 👋 I’m Elisa, an Italian product writer and translator who believes good design is service. This is where I document my work in UX.

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