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Google Training Document Reveals How Temps, Vendors, and Contractors Are Treated (theguardian.com)
"An internal Google training document exposed by The Guardian reveals how the company instructs employees on how to treat temps, vendors, and contractors (TVCs)," writes Slashdot reader Garabito. "This includes: 'not to reward certain workers with perks like T-shirts, invite them to all-hands meetings, or allow them to engage in professional development training.'" From the report: "Working with TVCs and Googlers is different," the training documentation, titled the The ABCs of TVCs, explains. "Our policies exist because TVC working arrangements can carry significant risks." The risks Google appears to be most concerned about include standard insider threats, like leaks of proprietary information, but also -- and especially -- the risk of being found to be a joint employer, a legal designation which could be exceedingly costly for Google in terms of benefits.
Google's treatment of TVCs has come under increased scrutiny by the company's full-time employees (FTEs) amid a nascent labor movement at the company, which has seen workers speak out about both their own working conditions and the morality of the work they perform. American companies have long turned to temps and subcontractors to plug holes and perform specialized tasks, but Google achieved a dubious distinction this year when Bloomberg reported that in early 2018, the company did not directly employ a majority of its own workforce. According to a current employee with access to the figures, of approximately 170,000 people around the world who now work at Google, 50.05% are FTEs. The rest, 49.95%, are TVCs. The report notes that "the two-tier system has complicated labor activism at Google." On November 1st, after 20,000 workers joined a global walkout, "the company quickly gave in to one of the protesters' demands by ending forced arbitration in cases of sexual harassment -- but only for FTEs."
Google's treatment of TVCs has come under increased scrutiny by the company's full-time employees (FTEs) amid a nascent labor movement at the company, which has seen workers speak out about both their own working conditions and the morality of the work they perform. American companies have long turned to temps and subcontractors to plug holes and perform specialized tasks, but Google achieved a dubious distinction this year when Bloomberg reported that in early 2018, the company did not directly employ a majority of its own workforce. According to a current employee with access to the figures, of approximately 170,000 people around the world who now work at Google, 50.05% are FTEs. The rest, 49.95%, are TVCs. The report notes that "the two-tier system has complicated labor activism at Google." On November 1st, after 20,000 workers joined a global walkout, "the company quickly gave in to one of the protesters' demands by ending forced arbitration in cases of sexual harassment -- but only for FTEs."
Badly.
#DeleteChrome
The hard factual discussion is this.
At what point does a "temp" worker become permanent? 20 years? 10 years? 5 years? 1 year? 6 Months? Arguably, temp-to-hire contracts are all 3 months, so beyond that, they are an "employee".
How much does the Janitorial, Helpdesk, Building Maintenance, Cafeteria Cooks, and Security people help the company "bottom line"? Management might say things like "they are not in our vertical", the observation being, hiring 10 more janitors is unlikely to improve company revenue and thus these employee's are largely "costs". The discussion on that one goes something like; the eyes said to the rest of the body " I'm the most important because they I See the apple", and the mouth said to the rest of the body "No I'm the most important I eat the apple", then the hand says to the body "But without me, you can't grab the apple! I'm the most important!" and then the spincter chimes in "If I don't work, None of you work, so I'm the most important".
The lesson being, MBA's only understand linear, non-iterative business processes with a defnied start and end that are quantifiable, and Accountants are a sub-set of MBA's that only understand Cost and Risk. You need a MEA to understand process engineering and manage bottlenecks effecitvely, and that requires specialized knowledge, experience, and lots of hard work. Accountants do not understand oppertunity like an Bicycle mechanic will never understand a rolls royce; they operate on a loose framework of analogies and advise that are ultimately very narrow and do not work outside of those narrow constraints. What they do understand is cost and risk, and that is how they view everything in an organziation. They are hopelessly doomed to destroy any section of a company they manage. The entire act of viewing any employee as a "cost" announces to the whole world you are a clueless accountant, and simultaniously is an indication you need to Get The F!@#ck away from that person if they are your manager.
Do temps provide better security? Eventually you're pre-programmed turnover and low pay is going to hire a spy, janitor, theif, or someone looking to burn the building down. Do transient, temporary jobs provide better results? Training costs always exceed combined hiring, firing, and retention costs, always. Is it better to seperate your employee's from the "rabble"? Only if you enjoy megalomaniacs for employee's. Do you get less drama as a company because you aren't dealing with "rabble"? Not if you pay them enough to live on.
Find me one reason why Google shouldn't hire any of the above position for permanent jobs at 80% of market wages.
What the discussion boils down to is if you were to look at who owns the temp agencies, you're going to find the executive managers have a pretty big investment in them. They benefit directly from shaving nickels and dimes off of paychecks. Or the company is using their paychecks and retirement funds as a revenue source to fund expansionary and experimental projects.
The real discussion you need to have with yourself is, how do you define a bankrupt company? If 50% of the company can't afford to live and eat on what they are being paid, or the companies books only work by screwing staff over, is the company bankrupt? This is the concept of "trash" management; the staff are the "products", the management are the "consumers" and once the "products" are "consumed" what do we do with them? Into the trash bin. You can tell trash management because they are surrounded by, you guessed it, trash.
And if thats the case, and they are falling further into bankruptcy, pulling that "50%" with them, either at some point there's going to be a "labor movement" to fix the issue, or, like the french revolution, people will give up, lose their concept of self-respect and dignity, and eventually decide, as maria antonette is trying on her nth boat hairdew, that it'd be a great idea to engage in the ritual of exacting justice on their own terms. That 2nd bit, by the way, when the staff loses self-respect and dignity, if you notice that, don't just get ready to leave. Run. You do not want to be anywhere near that.
I manage 30+ of what the article calls "TVCs"
Why on earth do you manage 30+ TVCs? Do you manage 30+ employees? If not, why not? TVCs are meant to fill temporary holes. It certainly sounds like your company (assuming you're only managing 30+ TVCs which I find likely) is dodging various labor laws and the costs and obligations associated with FTEs. Which merely implies that the laws and regulations aren't properly set up to promote employment.
The cesspool just got a check and balance.
The way contractors are treated at all these tech companies including Google is exactly a result of what happened to Microsoft and how it was punished. They did not make a distinction between how employees and contractors were treated which got them in hot water for not offering equivalent benefits and perks (like stock).
I don't know why that would help you negotiate. Negotiation involves understanding your value and having the confidence to ask for it. Confidence is a personal trait unconnected to math ability. And knowing your value is hard for almost everyone.
Your ad here. Ask me how!