Working Through the Pain: ASL interpreters sacrifice their physical and mental health at large corporate firms

The report details how private equity-owned VRS providers, Sorenson Communications and ZP Better Together, maintain unsafe working conditions that lead to interpreter burnout and a national shortage, negatively impacting service quality for Deaf consumers despite increased federal funding from the FCC.

• The Video Relay Service (VRS) market is dominated by two companies, Sorenson Communications and ZP Better Together, whose private equity owners have prioritized rapid profit expansion over the well-being of interpreters and service users.
• VRS interpreters face severe physical and mental health challenges due to grueling shifts and a lack of sufficient breaks, which differs from standard interpreting practices and contributes to a cycle of burnout and industry shortages.
• Despite an organizing campaign launched in September 2024 with the Office of Professional Employees’ International Union (OPEIU), the owners of the dominant VRS firms—Ariel, Blackstone, and Teleperformance—have refused to meet with interpreters regarding collective bargaining and working conditions.
• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has increased the reimbursements paid to private VRS providers, yet these funds have not been used to adequately address the unsafe working conditions that degrade service quality for the Deaf community.

APA

Private Equity Stakeholder Project (2025). Working Through the Pain: ASL interpreters sacrifice their physical and mental health at large corporate firms. https://pestakeholder.org/reports/working-through-the-pain-asl-interpreters-sacrifice-their-physical-and-mental-health-at-large-corporate-firms/

Chicago

Private Equity Stakeholder Project. Working Through the Pain: ASL interpreters sacrifice their physical and mental health at large corporate firms. 2025. https://pestakeholder.org/reports/working-through-the-pain-asl-interpreters-sacrifice-their-physical-and-mental-health-at-large-corporate-firms/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Private Equity Stakeholder Project |title=Working Through the Pain: ASL interpreters sacrifice their physical and mental health at large corporate firms |date=5 June 2025 |url=https://pestakeholder.org/reports/working-through-the-pain-asl-interpreters-sacrifice-their-physical-and-mental-health-at-large-corporate-firms/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{privateequitystakeholderproject2025working, author = {{Private Equity Stakeholder Project}}, title = {{Working Through the Pain: ASL interpreters sacrifice their physical and mental health at large corporate firms}}, institution = {Private Equity Stakeholder Project}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://pestakeholder.org/reports/working-through-the-pain-asl-interpreters-sacrifice-their-physical-and-mental-health-at-large-corporate-firms/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }