Some Facebook moderators can work from home after the protest

Meta employees will not have to return to the office for months, but some of its contracted workers are only now getting a similar delay. BuzzFeed News learned that an Accenture subcontractor had 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 in the immediate vicinity, while a highly addictive version 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 that it was impossible to maintain Accenture’s demands for social distancing due to cramped offices, closed stairs 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 work” based on health data on COVID-19, and claimed that the company worked “collaboratively” on the accommodation of individuals in accordance with the law. Meta, meanwhile, said he would “continue to prioritize” the health and safety of all workers. Metta employees can postpone their return to the office until June.

These concerns are not strictly new. Moderators accused Meta (then Facebook) of putting lives at risk in 2020 by asking some contractors to work from 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 yet to shake up concerns about the well-being of its moderation teams.