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The Virtual LSP
For One Translation Provider, Brexit and Covid Meant the End of the Physical Office Forever
Before the covid-19 pandemic, 78 to 83 percent of people who worked for language services providers (LSP’s) worldwide reported into a physical office, according to Common Sense Advisory. But last March, everything changed. On Friday the 13th, the United States declared the virus a national emergency. Video meeting platform Zoom became the most downloaded app in the Apple store, collaboration tool Microsoft Teams saw a 500 percent use increase in China, and Google started offering its video Hangouts Meet product for free. Three days later, on March 16th, French president Emmanuel Macron ordered mandatory fines for people who left their homes and on March 23rd, UK prime minister Boris Johnson followed suit. By the end of the month, only 13 countries in the whole world had not experienced some form of governmental quarantine, lockdown, or “on pause.” And the number of global LSP employees going into a physical office every day? Well, that fell as low as three percent. In two and a half weeks, white-collar workers went from being strapped to their desks to stuck in their homes, homes that had now become offices whether they or their employers liked it or not. The world was virtual.
But in the sleepy tourism town of Newquay, England, population 20,343, Anja Jones Translation (AJT) had gotten a head…
