Facebook Moderators Pressured to Return to Hyderabad Office Despite COVID-19 Concerns: Report

Facebook moderators were reportedly pressured by their employer Genpact to return to office despite safety concerns over the ongoing coronavirus-induced pandemic. Genpact, a third-party contracting firm that handles Facebook’s moderation operations, has reportedly been asking its employees to return to its offices in Hyderabad as early as July. Genpact claimed that most parts of Facebook’s moderation services needed be performed in office due to privacy issues and other technical hurdles. The report also cited some senior moderators from the firm who said that their jobs were at risk if they chose not to return to the workplace.

According to a report by Rest of World, Genpact asked employees to return to the office located in Hyderabad’s tech hub, HITEC City. Genpact is one of the firms that Facebook outsources to take care of its moderation operations around the world. The firm employs close to 1,600 Facebook moderators, as per the report.

Claiming that Facebook’s moderation services needed to be taken care of while operating from office due to privacy and technical concerns, Genpact told Rest of World that in-office work was done voluntarily. “To make this manageable, safe, and clear, employees need to sign a weekly form that asks them to voluntarily agree to this,” a Genpact spokesperson said.

The publication also spoke to four current and former Genpact employees, who anonymously said that moderators were asked to return to office as early as July to “to tackle sensitive content, including posts involving child exploitation, suicide, and other matter that could lead to real-world harm.” India had imposed strict lockdown rules between March to May as a preventive measure against COVID-19. By July, the country had entered its second phase of unlock, Unlock 2.0, when certain restrictions were eased but lockdown measures were still imposed in containment zones and night curfews were still in effect in most areas.

The report also cited a senior moderator at Genpact who said that employees were informed that their jobs could be at risk should they choose not to return to office. “The operations team told them these are important orders. There’s a threatening factor behind [it]. People are forced to go to work, even if they are not happy to,” said the moderator.

Gadgets 360 has reached out Genpact for a response. This report will be updated when we hear back.

Back in August, Facebook allowed its corporate employees (non-third party) to continue to work from home until July 2021 due to the pandemic and will give them $1,000 (roughly Rs. 75,000) for home office needs. Other tech giants including Google have also taken similar steps to ensure employee safety.

A Facebook spokesperson told Gadgets 360, “Our focus for reopening any office is on how it can be done in a way that keeps our reviewers safe. To do this we are putting strict health and safety measures in place, making sure they’re followed, and addressing and disclosing any confirmed cases of illness.”

We also reached out to Facebook inquiring whether other consulting firms, such as Accenture, have started asking its employees to return to office to handle Facebook moderations. We’ll update this space when we hear back.

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