BROOKLYN — LanguageLine Solutions adopted new AI-powered workforce management software called NiCE in 2025, after which interpreters reported fragmented schedules and reduced pay. Tax forms provided by Brooklyn-based Haitian Creole-English interpreter Yves Valerus show her income from the company fell 18% from 2024 to 2025, while one part-time interpreter's pay fell by more than 70% over the same period.

The company, whose clients include the United Kingdom's National Health Service and multiple New York City agencies, said NiCE is used to forecast volume and determine schedules and monitors real-time occurrences like weather and travel disruptions. The software, also used by American Airlines, Morgan Stanley and Toyota, advertises "smarter scheduling, accurate forecasting, and real-time intraday optimization" powered by artificial intelligence.

Valerus, a single mother of three, had worked a stable full-time job at the company for a year and a half with a regular weekly schedule, a set hourly rate and benefits before her hours were cut and became fragmented and unpredictable in 2025. She said she prioritized her internet bill over utilities because she works remotely and had unstable hours.

"I would go an extra three miles to get something on sale that I really need when I have a market right down the block from my house," Valerus said. She and some fellow interpreters are trying to unionize with the Communications Workers of America.

Interpreters previously had one or two minutes of downtime between calls but now have a mandatory 15 seconds, and some who work on video calls reported they have barely enough time to stand up and stretch. Workers also began experiencing mandatory involuntary unpaid time off listed under pay code "AEX" on their schedules with little notice. The company's code of conduct bars interpreters from working for other translation services.

LanguageLine Solutions said it is dealing with "headwinds facing our entire industry, including new policies instituted by the current administration" and has had to adjust schedules to accommodate lower-than-expected volumes. The company also announced it is experimenting with using AI to perform basic interpretation work, saying it is piloting the technology for "routine, repetitive tasks" and is not aiming to cut jobs, adding, "Our interpreters rarely handle these today. For us, this will be market expansion."

Teleperformance, the parent company, was previously accused of trying to surveil remote workers and reached an agreement with a labor union federation over its surveillance practices. Daniel Schneider, project lead of Harvard University's SHIFT project, said: "You were just telling the story — in this one company — of all these transformations that have happened to hourly work in America."