Facebook Inc. will require vendors to raise the minimum wage paid to US contractors to better reflect local costs of living, the company announced Monday. The social media giant will require a minimum wage of $20 in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City and Washington DC, and a rate of $18 per hour in Seattle.
For contractors who review content on Facebook’s site to make sure it follows its community standards guidelines, Facebook will require a minimum wage of least $22 per hour in the Bay Area, New York City and Washington DC; $20 per hour for those living in Seattle; and $18 per hour in all other US metro areas. Content reviewers will also be provided access to well-being and resiliency resources including onsite counseling professionals and comprehensive health care benefits.
The announcement follows news last month [1] that Google will require its contracted and temporary workforce in the US receive full benefits, including comprehensive health care, paid parental leave and a $15 minimum wage.
Facebook plans to implement the changes by mid-next year and is working to develop similar standards for other countries.
Facebook in 2015 began requiring [2] vendors to pay their US workers a minimum wage of $15 and provide a minimum of 15 paid days off for holidays, sick time and vacation.
“In the years since, it’s become clear that $15 per hour doesn’t meet the cost of living in some of the places where we operate,” VP of HR Janelle Gale and VP of Scaled Operations Arun Chandra wrote in a blog post [3] announcing the new rate. “After reviewing a number of factors including third-party guidelines, we’re committing to a higher standard that better reflects local costs of living.”
Reuters reported [4] Silicon Valley is under pressure to close the income gap given California’s high cost of living. US corporations have also been finding it tougher to attract workers, with unemployment at its lowest level in nearly 50 years, while there has been growing political pressure on companies to pay workers a fair living wage.