Facebook moderators were reportedly pressurized by Genpact to return to the workplace despite safety concerns over the continuing pandemic. Genpact which is a 3rd party contracting firm that handles Facebook’s moderation operations, has reportedly been asking its employees to return to its offices in Hyderabad. Genpact has claimed that most of the company’s moderation services needed to be completed in the workplace due to privacy matters and other practical hurdles. The report has too cited senior moderators from the company who has said that their occupations were in jeopardy if they did not come back to their workplace.
Genpact has asked some of the employees to go back to the office which is placed in HITEC City. Genpact is one of the corporations that Fb has outsourced to take care of its moderation operations around the globe. The firm has employed around 1,600 moderators.
Demanding that Facebook’s moderation services needed to be taken care of while operating from the workplace due to confidentiality and practical concerns.
To handle the sensitive content, counting posts that involve child misuse, suicide, and other issues that could lead to some kind of harm to anyone. The country imposed stringent lockdown rules as a precautionary measure against Coronavirus. By the starting of July, India had entered its 2nd phase of unlocking, when certain restrictions were alleviated but lockdown measures were still applied in containment zones, and night curfews were still in effect in most of the places.
Image from Facebook
The report has also cited a senior moderator who has said that the workers were well-versed that their jobs could be in danger should they choose not to go back to their offices.
Earlier in August, the social media giant allowed its corporate employees to continue to work from home till July 2021 due to the outbreak and will give them 1,000 dollars for home-office needs. Other companies such as Google have to take the same steps to make sure that their employees are safe.
Facebook had issued a clarification in which they have said that all reviewers who are currently working in-office in India have done so on an opt-in basis. Anyone who is thinking to continue working from home should be able to do so without any impact on their PayScale and benefits. Facebook and their partners are meeting or exceeding guidance on upholding a safe workstation and an extensive variety of extra health and safety measures are put in place for anyone who is returning to the office.
Genpact has also issued a clarification statement saying that coming back to the office is strictly voluntary and that staff would not see any effect on pay or benefits.
