Some Facebook moderators may work from home after the protest

Meta’s internal staff will not have to return to the office for months, but some of his contract workers are only now getting a similar delay. BuzzFeed News have learned subcontractor Accenture has lifted a request for hundreds of Facebook moderators to return to personal work at Mountain View, California on Jan. 24. The original plan, submitted to moderators in late December, would force approximately 400 people to work nearby, while a highly addictive variant of Omicron for COVID-19 is likely to still be present.

The announcement led to public and private protests over the decision, including “nearly a dozen” threats of resignation, BuzzFeed He said. The moderators said it was impossible to sustain Accenture’s social distancing demands due to cramped offices, closed staircases and poor implementation, and that the company did not provide exemptions for immunocompromised workers or vulnerable family members.

An Accenture spokesman confirmed that moderators working from home “should continue to do so” based on health data on COVID-19 and argued that the company worked “collaboratively” on accommodating individuals in accordance with the law. Meta, meanwhile, said he would “continue to give priority” to the health and safety of all workers. Meta’s own employees can delay returning to the office until June.

These concerns are not explicitly new. Moderators accused Meta (then Facebook) in 2020 of putting lives in danger asking some contractors to work out of the office even when family members were very vulnerable. Meta then disputed some of the claims, but not all. This also comes after a $ 52 million settlement with moderators who said they developed PTSD and other mental health problems while reviewing harmful material. However, this latest incident suggests that Meta has not yet raised concerns about the well-being of its moderation teams.