
Facebook contractors and subcontractors will not receive $1000 bonus - DyslexicAtheist
https://twitter.com/samfbiddle/status/1240040390310236160
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creddit
Being the company everyone loves to hate is tough. They're paying the people
their full wages still, many of whom won't be working anymore but they're evil
because FB chose to give $1K to their FTEs. All they had to do was not be
super extra nice to their FTEs and no one would give a shit. The full class of
workers would be worse off but FB the company would be better off.

What a stupid thing to complain about.

~~~
room271
I think you've missed the broader point. The whole thing is a reminder that
many 'progressive' companies like Facebook like to boast about how well they
treat their employees - high wages etc - but in reality they outsource
most/all of the lower-paid jobs. There's nothing wrong with this(!) but it
does mean they lose some moral highground as a lot of people working
physically in their offices probably don't have very good terms/job security
after all. (Unless, of course, they also require good conditions for their
outsourced workers too.)

~~~
creddit
I don't know much in the way of details but there's this quote from the
article implying the get meals:

> “Would help ease the cost of not having hot food and snacks at work five
> days a week also.”

There's also this article
([https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-13/facebook-...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-13/facebook-
to-raise-pay-for-thousands-of-contract-workers-including-content-moderators))
which implies the minimum wage for their contractors is $18/hr in low cost
areas and $22/hr in high cost areas.

~~~
room271
Thanks. One does wonder why they have tens of thousands of content moderators,
none of whom are actual employees.

~~~
imustbeevil
I would imagine Facebook hires contractors to moderate content because the job
has high turnover and doesn't require any skills.

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nikivi
It’s expected. The companies of this size don’t really care about contractors.
Probably think it’s government’s issue to deal with.

~~~
ramblerman
> The companies of this size don’t really care about contractors

Should they? I'm a contractor. I realize the pros and cons of my choices.

~~~
michaelt
If 'contractor' always meant "financially sophisticated professional who is
well prepared to weather this storm" I would agree with you. Can't take extra
pay in lieu of benefits then insist on the benefits too!

However, contractor status is often also used as a way to bypass minimum-wage
laws for cleaners, moderators and suchlike. People in this position might not
be prepared to weather the storm; and some people are sympathetic to their
plight.

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aminozuur
Facebook is a customer of sub-contracters. Facebook is not their employer. It
makes sense that the subcontractors' boss take care of them, not Facebook. Not
that strange.

~~~
akiselev
Yeah, that's called "plausible deniability."

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xtiansimon
I don't know what is the situation of contractors and sub-contractors at
Facebook. I don't know the actual number of people effected. I don't know what
is the ratio of contractors to employees.

What I have experienced, first hand, is working as a contractor for large
corporations.

I think some people are having a hard time seeing any downside to this
arrangement.

One distinction in contracting is if you receive a 1099 or W-2 at the end of
the year. For the employer, the 1099-contractor is an attractive position. You
don't have to pay payroll taxes. They're (sometimes) not included in your
workmans comp and (in some circumstances) liability insurance. They're not
eligible for unemployment, and therefore your UI rate is lower.

Why would you hire someone as a 1099 contractor? Maybe your department has a
new project and need someone who is an expert in, IDK, 'spaghetti code'. No
one knows it, so the contractor works self-directed, from home, on their own
machine. I knew a guy who was a contractor for banks and setup ATMs--very
specialized knowledge.

Here's the first problem. "Looks like a duck. Walks like a duck. It's a duck."
What happens when that contractor sits in your office right next to you. Does
the same work. Is managed by the same manager. Working indefinitely. But,
they're paid by a third-party. They don't get benefits. They're guaranteed to
be the first people to be laid-off.

Compare this person to any-other worker in the market, there may be very few
differences. They're still 'hired' by the third-party (and get a W-2), so
they're eligible for unemployment. But compare them to the 'employees' they
work with, and there may be a lot differences--such as this $1k free money at
Facebook.

When the market is saturated with these sub-contracting jobs, it's a fraught
choice. Work at 'Facebook' as a contractor, and start earning money, versus,
what? keep looking? take a job at an unknown corporation? If you're young and
inexperienced, and all of the points above sound new and unknown, you could
ask yourself what's the difference?

The difference is qualitative one for the employee (No $1k bonus, and you're
laid off), but a lot of small and marginal quantitative benefits for the
employer.

There are a lot of other issues here. The rise of contracting and sub-
contracting was a major change in the employment landscape when it started
appearing 30 yrs ago. I think it's similar to the move from pensions to 401k.

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s17n
This is crazy, the majority of FTE's will barely notice the extra $1000 but it
could make a huge difference for most of the subcontractors.

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zenincognito
Don't bite the hands that feed you.

