European Commission reviews

When I was working there, the workload was high but manageable, but from what I hear, it's getting worse every year. Also, once you get used to the type of documents to translate, it quickly becomes very repetitive and frustrating for anyone who needs some variety and creativity to function properly. The procedures are rigid and often bureaucratic and you sometimes have to deal with micromanagers who want to have every single detail under control, but can't put together the bigger picture, thus wasting their own and everyone else's time. As far as career mobility is concerned, translators have long had the reputation of the most frustrated caste of all EC employees: the ones who most frequently request mobility and least frequently manage to move somewhere else in the service.

This being the public sector, for permanent officials it is optional to actually work. Office politics reign supreme above competence. While there are definitely people who work hard and care about what they're doing, the general atmosphere is of indifference. People also love to gossip about institutional politics and bicker about minimal issues.