Maybe you Google things too much. But you're less likely to think about subcontractors like me who make your search results safe and worthwhile.
On a typical weekday morning, I sit down at my computer at my home in Choctaw, Oklahoma, to begin a workday as a Google search evaluator, where I evaluate the quality of search results—both live and experimental—to feed the search engine's recommendations. And classifications. I log into the Google portal to see the first task I've been assigned — if I have any, which has become less reliable since late last year. If I don't, I wait for a new task to come up, which can take up unpaid hours out of my day. Once I start a task, there's no indication of how many others are lined up behind it, and no tools to communicate with anyone. It's just me, a temp, and a search result that I have to classify as good or bad in a few minutes — less time than it takes to do the job right.
These days, most of the search results I evaluate are generated by AI, and I've been asked to verify their validity by doing a Google search. That's right: I actually cross-check the AI-generated search results with Google search results to populate future search results.
This is how sausages are made Google search result: Real people like me make them. The bad results we filter out include fraudulent results (sending you to a fraudulent website when you try to buy your Nike shoes) and downright dangerous results (telling you that it is safe to take a certain medication for your health condition when that is not the case at all).
However, we do not receive fair wages and benefits. Google recently made this official, reversing a decision made in 2019, when the Alphabet subsidiary announced it would require vendors to pay its “expanded workforce” at a rate of at least $15 per hour plus health benefits. That followed the employees In protest How the company handles people like me: tens of thousands of temporary workers hired through Google's vendors and subcontractors.
Last month, Google quietly Remove this conditionis a blow to workers and our union's organizing efforts, as well as to Google's reputation as the kinder, kinder tech giant.
“These updates bring us in line with other major companies and simply make clear that Google is not, and has never been, the employer of our supplier employees,” a company spokesperson said. He told ReutersAdding that most of the giant technology companies' suppliers work in states that impose a minimum wage of at least $15.
many of My colleagues Meanwhile, I did not get the rate I was promised. Almost two years after starting at $14 an hour, I'm still making the same amount. And this year, even before the vendor requirements were removed, Google brought on Other quality evaluators in $12 up to $10 per hour. The announcement of worker protections in 2019 appears to have been for show. Now that the economy has turned and drastic measures are needed to preserve shareholder profits, Google is removing the mask completely.
The company said it removed the minimum price requirement because it wanted to make clear it was not a “joint employer” alongside the vendors who hired us. It's a legal distinction that's increasingly important now that the government is making one discussion The rights of companies that attempt to deprive large numbers of workers of the benefits and wages to which full-time employees are entitled.
Google is playing defense now. It even introduced mandatory training for full-time employees on how to interact with contractors to ensure the company could legally avoid “joint employment” claims and any obligation to collectively bargain with us about our working conditions, based on the screenshots. We have seen.
However, in our work as quality assessors, Google runs the show. We work on their platforms and follow their guidelines. Google sets our time limits and determines the reviews by which we are ranked. Our work on its tools by following its rules has helped the company generate billions in search revenue.
Now that the company is focusing on its AI efforts, quality evaluators like me are critical to ensuring that search results aren't filled with bad results and misinformation. We are the invisible backbone of Google, and we deserve fair pay.
It's not just contractors feeling the shift in Google's mood. Unprecedented layoffs over the past few years have affected thousands. In the same week that Google removed its minimum price requirements, it launched more than 50 direct employees Who exercised their right to protest the cloud computing deal with Israel.
After the women’s strike in 2018 and 2019 Protests Against Google's deals with military and government groups, the company has shown its willingness to address workers' concerns.
But recently, Google leaders revealed the true face of the company. Less than a week after the latest separations and abandonment of the minimum rate, Alphabet has gotten involved Has risen After the company reported strong revenue growth and announced its first-ever dividend and a new round of stock buybacks worth $70 billion. CEO Sundar Pichai is near or at Billionaire status. The company has Stack cash With more than 100 billion dollars.
Google appears to have abandoned its commitment to workers. Shareholders seem to agree.
Actions against contractors and full-time workers are having a negative impact on our efforts to improve our conditions. But as secretary of the Alphabet-CWA labor union, I can tell you that we are not afraid. We did Appears at Google headquarters In California and at city council meetings across the country to petition for our rights, we are ready to continue the fight for fair wages and better conditions.
So, next time you're googling something, think of me in Oklahoma. Remember, one of the largest companies in the world doesn't think the work I do to build the Internet you use every day is worth protecting.
Tony Allen is a subcontractor for Google Search and secretary of the Alphabet-CWA labor union.
