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Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

theguardian.com

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Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#401

Post by rlanday »

eropple wrote: post #89
bluedino wrote: post #74

A few things. They aren't Facebook employees, as some people might infer when reading the headline. They're working for the cafeteria contractor - Flagship Facility Services. They are making $2 and $4/hour more than the $15/hour minimum wage people are fighting for. Obviously $15 isn't enough and neither is more than $15. >> Earlier in their relationship, the couple both earned about $12 per hour as managers at Chipo…

> They aren't Facebook employees, as some people might infer when reading the headline. They're working for the cafeteria contractor - Flagship Facility Services. Not saying you're doing this, but this is very regularly used as a dodge to erase the responsibility of very large companies (and smaller too, of course) to ensure that the people working for their contractors to be treated fairly and equitably, too. Contra…

What is "fairly and equitably"? If I choose to live in the most expensive metro area in the country, have ten kids, and then kill my wife so there's no one else to help support them, is it my employer's fault I'm struggling? At what point do people's situations stop being other people's fault?

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#402

Post by tptacek »

jimmywanger wrote: post #399
tptacek wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why doesn't this happen more often?

If you give too many benefits to contractors, they become de-facto full time employees, and you have to pay for benefits and health insurance and all that stuff. That happened back in the day with engineers at Google also. They hired a lot of contractors, but you could really only work 6 months out of the year, or else they'd have to classify you as full time with all the attendant benefits. The food and fitness cent…

I've been a full-time consultant/contractor since 2005 and felt like I was pretty familiar with the IRS classification rules, and this is new to me. Can you cite where you read this?

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#403

Post by [deleted] »

austenallred wrote: post #2

“Back in the day, [the wage] would have been a great number,” said Victor, “but because of Facebook moving in, everything is so expensive. I have to get payday loans sometimes. We barely make it.” They make a combined (rounded) $75,000/year. The real tragedy is that you can't afford to make it in the Bay Area on $75k/yr. I don't think that's something you can blame solely on Facebook.

[deleted]

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#404

Post by openforce »

IanDrake wrote: post #303

If you're going to be featured in an article highlighting your financial difficulty, move the $450 Dyson fan, 65" DLP TV, and overhead projector out of the frame. It begins to erode their footing and make you question their priorities. I have friends that make much less than these folks. Some can barely make ends meet and sometimes I will help them with their personal finances. Which is when I usually discover why th…

Question - Why is this down voted? Isn't living within your means a basic idea in major parts of the world?

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#405

Post by Danihan »

wbl wrote: post #328
sokoloff wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should the residents of the town of Atherton be able to vote and enact policies on how Atherton should evolve? I think they should.

When every city in the bay thinks that way we get a situation where only the lucky get to live here.

And that's a bad thing why?

Why shouldn't there be nice, exclusive areas to live in, just like there are exclusive schools to attend and exclusive companies to work for?

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#406

Post by jononor »

humanrebar wrote: post #327
kafkaesq wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, it's best not to confuse reality with pipe dreams, generally.

I'm not sure what way that sarcasm is cutting. I'll say the "design the problem away" impulse is partly what causes corporatism and monopolies. For example, regulatory capture in which the regulated industries more or less control the regulators. So I'll say the regulate-the-problem-away impulse is a pipe dream in the long run.

However "look the other way" isn't a very viable strategy either, it can also easily end up with corporate abuse. So what to do?

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#408

Post by rhizome »

jogjayr wrote: post #285
rhizome wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Theoretically they should move to a place with a cheaper cost of living. Theoretically the entire company could do that.

So...make all of their employees choose between uprooting their lives to move to a low-cost area (which they they didn't get to pick), or leaving their job? Didn't Reddit catch some flak over that recently? (yes I'm aware it was the other way, into the Bay Area rather than out)

Please. Most (if not "basically all") of their employees already moved to work there.

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#409

Post by xenihn »

mcgrath_sh wrote: post #180
austenallred wrote: post #2

“Back in the day, [the wage] would have been a great number,” said Victor, “but because of Facebook moving in, everything is so expensive. I have to get payday loans sometimes. We barely make it.” They make a combined (rounded) $75,000/year. The real tragedy is that you can't afford to make it in the Bay Area on $75k/yr. I don't think that's something you can blame solely on Facebook.

I agree so much. At $75k/yr in my area, you would be able to live in a top 15 school district and go on a family vacation anually. I literally cannot conceptualize scraping by on $75k a year. That is just unfathomably expensive!

What area is that?

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#410

Post by xenihn »

Houshalter wrote: post #389
kevmo wrote: post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Just move away" is not a legitimate response to these problems.

There is a limited supply of housing and they have no interest in building more. That means only a limited number of people can live there. Someone has to move. Rents will just keep increasing until they do. Paying them more will just increase rents more until someone else is forced out. And I do see it as a lifestyle choice. You can't choose a lot of things in life, but you can choose where you live. I don't have a…

>There is a limited supply of housing and they have no interest in building more.

Who is "they"?

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