Facebook will be increasing the pay of its employees involved in content moderationwork. The minimum wage will now be increased from $15 per hour to $18 to $22 an hour, based on the location of the employee.
Last year, a content reviewer had filed a case against Facebook saying the work had caused her mental trauma. Following this, other contract employees urged the Company to provide better working conditions and also arrange for counselling and health insurance. The job of content reviewers requires them to view all sorts of content, even images of torture, terrorist acts, and beheadings, which leave a lasting impact on their minds.
Facebook will now also be offering in-house counselling to its content reviewers during working hours. Content moderators will also be allowed to tone down any disturbing content they may come across. For instance, reviewers will be able to now blur disturbing images temporarily (by default) before they review them.
Those employees who specialise in content moderation, will get a bigger hike, as the Company realises that their work is not only challenging but essential for the safety of the community at large.
With this hike, all contract workers will now be earning a living wage in the costly cities of the US, such as San Francisco, New York City, Washington DC and Seattle.
However, the hikes will come into effect only by next year.
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