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Facebook is giving $1k to every employee

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Re: Facebook is giving $1k to every employee

#71

Post by behringer »

briffle wrote: post #43
regnerba wrote: post #4

But why? Aren't most of their employees going to still be making their salary anyways? What do they need the extra money for? The people in the economy that really need the money are not the people working at Facebook. I mean, congrats to Facebook employees, I just don't understand why.

Facebook should be doing this for their contractors. (not the software development ones).. the guys who clean the office, maintain the landscape, cook the food, clean the dishes in their cafeterias, etc.

Haha I'm a contractor at my current job and while my job is extremely secure, all those benefits and assurances my company is sending out don't apply to me.

Its great that none of the employees at my company have to show up sick and will still get paid, but what about us temps and contractors? The temps and contractors are the ones that will be spreading covid-19 due to our circumstances.

Re: Facebook is giving $1k to every employee

#72

Post by mgkimsal »

taylorhughes wrote: post #30
Jagat wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the classic argument of 'trickle down economics'. I"d wager that that $1k will just go into their bank account, like their bonus would.

(fb employee here) fwiw I've heard of a ton of people continuing to pay housekeepers, nannies, etc. - I was going to pay our house cleaner to stay home anyway, but this removes any hesitation/excuse not to. I agree it's unnecessary, but it's a nice gesture and these FANG companies have the cash in the bank to help the Bay Area weather the storm safely.

I'm confused on this. Are FB workers getting laid off?

Scenario: 1 month ago, you're an FB employee, and working, and you pay a nanny.

Today: you're an FB employee, and working, and you pay a nanny.

How is FB giving the FB employee changing anything at all? There's something I'm missing in this.

Re: Facebook is giving $1k to every employee

#73

Post by bcyn »

MegaButts wrote: post #36
throwlaplace wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pleasing cynics is like pissing outside on a windy day when you have to go - damned if you do and damned if you don't. read the article - they're giving out 1k to each of the 45k employees. i'm sorry for the contractors (i don't know if it includes them) but that's still a small city's worth of people. they're also guaranteeing bonuses for the next two quarters for all of those people. i don't care about fb but the m…

I'm cynical because I still don't see how this is helpful. It's giving more money to people that already have money, instead of spreading it around to people that don't have money. Facebook employees are about the least economically vulnerable population you can find, apart from people who inherited their wealth. Why not actually do something useful with the money, like donate it to a charity in need that's trying to…

It's helpful because it dramatically reduces stress on employees (due to guaranteed bonus without performance review) during a turbulent time.

I can't see why this is so hard to understand.

Re: Facebook is giving $1k to every employee

#74

Post by oaiey »

regnerba wrote: post #4

But why? Aren't most of their employees going to still be making their salary anyways? What do they need the extra money for? The people in the economy that really need the money are not the people working at Facebook. I mean, congrats to Facebook employees, I just don't understand why.

Because working from home with kids unable to leave house produces extra expenses for child care (switching from daycare to babysitter will be expensive) etc.

If you do not do that, you need to cut hours, which reduce your income.

What FB does here is to comfort their worried employees with some money, push the overall moral and mitigate some of the impacts ppl feel.

You can replace babysitting with caregiving, being sick, etc.

Re: Facebook is giving $1k to every employee

#76

Post by gdubs »

mgkimsal wrote: post #72
taylorhughes wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(fb employee here) fwiw I've heard of a ton of people continuing to pay housekeepers, nannies, etc. - I was going to pay our house cleaner to stay home anyway, but this removes any hesitation/excuse not to. I agree it's unnecessary, but it's a nice gesture and these FANG companies have the cash in the bank to help the Bay Area weather the storm safely.

I'm confused on this. Are FB workers getting laid off? Scenario: 1 month ago, you're an FB employee, and working, and you pay a nanny. Today: you're an FB employee, and working, and you pay a nanny. How is FB giving the FB employee changing anything at all? There's something I'm missing in this.

Because people are going to have to keep paying for services they no longer get value from. Someone has to clean the house, watch and educate the kids, etc.

Re: Facebook is giving $1k to every employee

#77

Post by chillacy »

buboard wrote: post #49
tudelo wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You want... Facebook... To give 1000 dollars... To every employee of some other unnamed company...

this could be e.g. in the form of food delivery vouchers etc, speficically aimed to keep small businesses running

They're doing something like that here: https://www.facebook.com/business/boost/grants

Re: Facebook is giving $1k to every employee

#78

Post by djohnston »

hiram112 wrote: post #54
nostromo wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook is not the government. They are doing something positive in their locus of control. And of course people are upset about it because... reasons.

I think the main reason I'm personally cynical about these types of 'good deeds' - whether it's Facebook giving $1K to their already well-paid employees or Bill Gates giving billions to charities - is that, in a perfect world, these ultra wealthy do-gooders probably shouldn't have so much fun money to give away in the first place. Our system should be much more balanced, where employees and researchers and charities…

> charities don't need trickle down handouts.

How do you define a charity?

Re: Facebook is giving $1k to every employee

#79

Post by gdubs »

Jagat wrote: post #19
gdubs wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but in the Bay Area it's not uncommon to have household workers – cleaners, nannies, etc. Something like this would allow people to continue to pay those folks who are not working now, and have no other form of income or assistance. It would help the FB workers, because they're going to be doing that work on top of their normal jobs. Not saying that's what people will use the money for, but it ups the odds at le…

So the classic argument of 'trickle down economics'. I"d wager that that $1k will just go into their bank account, like their bonus would.

I’m making a direct appeal to the people receiving this money — people who frequent this very website — to consider the people who work for their households.

I’m not making a policy argument, nor am I a proponent of trickle down economics.

This is about a specific, local situation in the midst of a crisis.

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