11-20-2011, 05:58 PM
I really don't know what the companies could or did do in response. I would imagine that the majority who left with little or no notice lost their jobs.
There was a huge wave of people leaving, which left a massive vacuum - I was able to take on a huge number of high paying translation gigs because companies were desperate... Then there was a flow of people coming in (or trying to come in), both new people and those returning, looking for jobs.
I do know that the companies I worked for were very edgy about trusting another foreign employee, and one of them even had their replacement translator decide to run off on them... Most of them have replaced their translators with native Japanese translators instead of native English speakers. I wouldn't be surprised to see the quality of Japanese to English translated manuals and technical documentation has gone down as a result.
I am and was not looking for a long term position so don't know exactly how things have changed, but I hear that a lot of places have changed their contracts.
I believe that the expectation of special treatment is linked with the strength of numbers. Everyone was leaving, so I left too - why punish me for something all us foreigners were doing? But, then again, I have not spoken in depth with anyone who was part of the drop and run group.
Oh, and you are right - it was, from my understanding, workers in Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka who made up the majority. Fukuoka. It really stuns me. An excuse I saw given was that Fukuoka sounds like Fukushima, so there was extra panic there.
It makes me incredibly mad though because their choice to drop and run HAS affected me. It is now MUCH harder to find freelance work as a translator/interpreter - everyone is choosing not to take any risks and stick with native Japanese translators, even if the quality suffers. Having a fair translation in the hand is better than an excellent translation in the suitcase of a foreigner on a plane home.
If anyone is trying to find me… Tamyuun on Instagram is probably the easiest.
Last edited by Nyororin : 11-20-2011 at 06:01 PM.
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