Employees Google call themselves Googler. In the workforce of Google, Googlers are now likely to be in the minority. From an internal document of the group shows that Google had in March 121,000 contractors and temporary workers and 102,000 full-time employees directly employed.

This is reported by the New York Times. In Silicon Valley, the use of temporary workers and contract workers is widespread. They regularly make up a quarter to a half of the working people of a company. Google’s share has grown steadily over the years and is over 54 percent, according to March figures.

The newspaper cites a number of disadvantages experienced by temporary workers and contractors at Google: they are denied access to a range of corporate events, can not access internal job postings, and have until recently enjoyed no paid parental leave. And when shots were fired at YouTube headquarters, only real googlers got up-to-date security information.

Employees 2nd class

If Google would treat the indirect employees approximately the same as Googler, the enterprise risked being determined legally as an employer or as an employer common with the temporary employment agencies. And then the temporary workers would be entitled to all benefits that googlers receive, while Google still would have to pay the temporary employment agencies.

In April, Google announced stricter rules for temporary work agencies in response to staff protests. In order to do business with Google, they have to pay the leased labor at least $ 15 an hour, with higher minima in some locations. In addition, comprehensive health insurance entitles you to at least eight days of paid sick leave per year and twelve weeks of paid parental leave.

There is still no improvement in access to court: originally, all Googlers had to accept in their employment contract a clause that made it impossible for them to go to court against their employer. This is no longer true for Googlers; However, temporary workers must continue to settle for private arbitration rather than public litigation.

Investigation of unpaid overtime

Google limits the use of temporary workers to a maximum of two years for a project. However, the NYT reports a project to train speech recognition algorithms, where temporary workers were ordered to take a six-month break after two years – after which they would have been allowed to return and have returned to the same project.

There are also allegations of unpaid overtime, which have been demanded of some temporary workers with the lock offer of a permanent attitude. Google is investigating these allegations and refers to an internal order to promise temporary workers and contractors under no circumstances future employment. In addition, unpaid overtime is a violation of corporate rules.

This is temporary work

Temporary workers are officially employed by other companies whose business model is leasing their “employees” to other companies. Those who actually give their jobs benefit from the more flexible use of the workforce and the ability to bring in specialists at short notice. In addition, there are usually lower costs without having to change the internal salary scheme. “Companies like (temporary workers and contract workers) because they are cheap,” the NYT sums up in a commentary.

In addition, temporary and contract workers can not be booked as personnel costs, but as non-personnel expenses. Thus, the required workforce can be deployed, while at the same time the public is a “hiring stopped” is fooled. Temporary work agencies are pleased about it, while the temporary workers have the disadvantage.