2021 was a flashpoint for tech workers who are becoming increasingly activist about their companies’ stances and policies. The employees predict intensified activism next year.
Netflix employees protest the company's decision to release Dave Chappelle's latest Netflix special, which they say contains transphobic material. .or more than a decade, technology companies such as Facebook and Google have placated employees by offering generous salaries, top-of-the-line benefits and other perks, from subsidized dry-cleaning to meals and on-campus ice-cream parlors.
Even before the union’s public debut, the departures of employees who had spoken out against the company made headlines. Those staff members included Timnit Gebru, an artificial intelligence ethics employee who was fired in December 2020 after she questioned her managers’ request to retract her research paper that pointed out the dangers of biases in large language models.
The Google union’s main focus for 2022, according to Rosenbloom, will be to continue fighting for the rights of contractors and temp workers, whomake up half of Alphabet’s work force. “Temporary workers do just as much if not more work than the full-time employees, but have so much more of a precarious position in terms of pay, health benefits and employment stability,” said Rosenbloom, who is a salaried full-time employee.
Company-wide walkouts at Google began as early as 2018 to protest alleged contracts with U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement.In 2021, walkouts spread to entertainment company Netflix, as transgender employees and their allies protested the company’s decision to air Dave Chapelle’s comedy episode, The Closer, which they say contains transphobic content that promotes bigotry.
“We are and have always been deeply committed to creating and maintaining a positive and inclusive workplace,” said a spokesperson for Apple in response to a November story about increased employee activism within its ranks. “We take all concerns seriously and we thoroughly investigate whenever a concern is raised and, out of respect for the privacy of any individuals involved, we do not discuss specific employee matters.
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