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Facebook Businesses The Almighty Buck United States

Facebook Employees Living in a Garage Hope Zuckerberg Will Learn What's Happening in His Own City (cnbc.com) 520

At the beginning of the year, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg set a goal to visit every state in the U.S. so he could learn more about the millions of people who use the social network every day. But two of his employees tell The Guardian that they wonder when the billionaire is going to get to know his own community. From a report: The employees, a married couple named Nicole and Victor, are both contract workers in the cafeteria at Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif. headquarters. And they wish they, and the problems closer to home, could also get a share of Zuckerberg's attention. "He should learn what's happening in this city," Nicole tells The Guardian. The couple says they can barely make ends meet. Together with their three children, Nicole and Victor share a two-car garage adjacent to Victor's parents' home. They borrow money from friends and family to stay afloat and occasionally resort to payday loans. Although they earn too much to qualify for state benefits, they don't earn enough to afford Facebook's health care plan.
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Facebook Employees Living in a Garage Hope Zuckerberg Will Learn What's Happening in His Own City

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  • Three kids? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:06AM (#54890713)

    Well there is your first problem....

    • Re:Three kids? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Camembert ( 2891457 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:08AM (#54890721)
      We have become a sad population if we reproach people having 3 kids.
      • Re:Three kids? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Train0987 ( 1059246 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:16AM (#54890809)
        Having three kids isn't bad. Having three kids without the ability to support them is. I'm no fan of Zuckerburg but this couple is where they are in life because of their own choices. That's not Zuck's fault.
      • Re:Three kids? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:21AM (#54890849)

        I think the problem is we're greedy at every level of society.

        Individually, we want 'stuff', so we put off kids (sometimes forever) because they crimp our lifestyles. This causes the birthrate to drop below replacement rate. Societally, we want an ever-expanding economy as we've structured pretty much everything to depend on there being more people in the future, and things start to fall apart if that doesn't happen.

        So... immigration from places with high birth rates when we really should be content to let our populations shrink so we don't consume as many resources.

        Really... why is a stagnant (or even shrinking!) population such a bad thing? No additional housing or extension of infrastructure is required. No ever-increasing issues with pollution, food production, or whatever. No ever-denser urban centers.

        In a world with 700 million people instead of 7 billion, our available resources would stretch 10x further and we'd still be far from any threat of depopulating ourselves to extinction.

        • by King_TJ ( 85913 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @11:14AM (#54891925) Journal

          It's easy to blame vices for everything wrong in society. If only people weren't having so much irresponsible sex. If only people weren't so greedy.

          But since the beginning of time, humans felt compelled to take actions based on their emotions -- so if these things do make society a worse place, it should be a pretty steady drag on how "awesome" it would be otherwise. None of this is new enough to explain any perceived recent problems.

          I reject the claim that the OP made, too, that our need for an ever-expanding economy requires a constant increase in our population (and our failure to do that is causing our economic woes today). The need for economic growth is increasingly decoupled from the number of available laborers! Automation and robotics are displacing workers already in jobs like cashiers, bank tellers and even security guards. Self-driving vehicles will displace MANY more. But growth in these industries won't slow or stop because of that!

          IMO, greed is a human emotion that isn't inherently good or bad. It depends on how you direct it. Is it bad to get angry? Depends on if the anger compels you to do something constructive or not, really. Same with greed.

      • We have become a sad population if we reproach people having 3 kids.

        Anything above the replacement rate is reproachful if it's beyond their means. We don't need more people. We need better-educated people.

        • We don't need more people.

          The U.S. needs more younger people. The majority of younger people in the 21st century will be born in developing countries. Meanwhile, developed countries will have more old people (retirees) than young people (taxpayers). That imbalance will dramatically change society in the coming years.

      • They could have saved up some money before taking kids, so they wouldn't have to resort to loans.

      • No, we have become a common sense population if/when we do.

      • We have become a sad population if we reproach people having 3 kids.

        There's NOTHING in the world wrong with having 3 kids....if you can AFFORD them...eh?

        We're all (presumably) relatively intelligent beings walking the earth here, and one would think they would PLAN and think ahead like adults to make sure they can afford to have any kids before they have them, no?

        Ok...hey, let's give them the first one as an accident...it happens. They didn't get rid of it, so they have one...if they are having trouble a

      • We have become a sad population if we reproach people having 3 kids.

        We have become a sad population if those having kids these days cannot do simple math. The cost of raising a child to age 18 isn't some financial secret.

        Proper (Financial) Planning Prevents Becoming Piss Poor. In other words, don't fucking have kids if you can't afford them. Common Sense.

    • Re:Three kids? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anubis IV ( 1279820 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:41AM (#54891001)

      Simple math tells us that if couples don't have at least two kids, population will decline. Having just one more kid than that shouldn't be a problem. If it is, then that's a problem.

      • Having just one more kid than that shouldn't be a problem. If it is, then that's a problem.

        Maybe, but you don't solve that problem by ignoring it.

  • by Kunedog ( 1033226 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:11AM (#54890751)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    Google spends millions to provide WiFi to "refugee" camps in the EU as if there aren't poor people in the US that could use help. It's virtue signalling with political overtones and nothing else.
    • Google spends millions to provide WiFi to "refugee" camps in the EU

      Wow! Google is selling their data, even before they even become integrated into the EU!

  • by Glasswire ( 302197 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:12AM (#54890765) Homepage

    This is simple. FB needs to relocate the staff in their unit to some rural site in in North Dakota where those FB employees could no doubt afford palatial houses.
    What you don't want to live there, you want to live in a CA area with insanely high real estate prices? That's not Zukerberg's problem, it's yours.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:13AM (#54890779)

    Facebook treats them like shit. They can't even use the gym, showers, healthcare, or recreational facilities at Facebook. He pays them squat. To Zuckerberg, these hard working folks are untermenschen. The irony is that Zuckerberg is the real untermenschen.

    • by Train0987 ( 1059246 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:39AM (#54890989)
      These people don't work for Facebook. They work for a contractor.
      • by trevize42 ( 1086179 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:52AM (#54891105)
        This is the chronic issue. They work full time at Facebook, but Facebook outsourced this labor to a sub-contractor for cheap rates. They skirt employment laws by outsourcing labor. Then the employees are paid far below a living wage. It happens in all tiers of employment. The is very dominant in IT. Large companies outsource their IT labor to contractors and those contractors get a sub-standard wage and no health benefits. The company get's a good financial outlook on paper while large portions of their workforce are shafted. What needs to happen is a change in law, that which if you work full time for a company you must be paid by that company at least a living wage and health benefits. All this sub-contracting to skirt decent wages and benefits needs to end.
        • Large companies outsource their IT labor to contractors and those contractors get a sub-standard wage and no health benefits.

          I've been contracting for the last 20+ years. Contracting agencies started offering full benefits after ObamaCare got passed in 2010 to comply with the law and stay competitive with each other to attract the best employees. If a recruiter offered me a contract job without benefits, I would laugh in their face.

    • I used to work for Adecco (contracting agency) and still get emails from time to time. They're hiring for kitchen staff for the Apple Park campus in Cupertino. Pay rate is $15 to $20 per hour. That's the going rate at Facebook. Contractors get fewer perks than fulltime employees.
    • Untermensch. It's singular.

    • How is that practical? They have three kids, which makes moving no small feat. They are both employed, so moving would only happen if they can both find new jobs in the same market.

      On top of that, their employment - even as contractors - for facebook ends up ultimately being a red mark on their resumes. When they go to other markets, potential employers will know - at least in general terms - how much these people were paid and will not want to even interview them as they will not be able to afford to
    • by kilfarsnar ( 561956 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:48AM (#54891059)

      Relocate and prosper.

      Why do you assume that people who can't make ends meet on a monthly basis have the thousands of dollars it costs to move a family?

  • "contract workers" (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Mr Foobar ( 11230 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:18AM (#54890831) Homepage

    Well, there's the problem right there. They're being paid by the contracting company, not FB, so their real beef is with their actual employer. FB doesn't employ them, FB employs the contracting company. FB is using the cheapest bid for food service they could get.

    So how are actual FB employees faring at the company?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by kilfarsnar ( 561956 )

      Well, there's the problem right there. They're being paid by the contracting company, not FB, so their real beef is with their actual employer. FB doesn't employ them, FB employs the contracting company. FB is using the cheapest bid for food service they could get.

      So how are actual FB employees faring at the company?

      Exactly. As long as there is a middle-man involved, Facebook doesn't have to give a fuck. It's like when I hired that contract company to have t-shirts made in Bangladesh for $0.10 an hour. I'm not the one exploiting those workers, the contracting company is. So I was completely blameless in that situation. I mean, sure I got the cost savings from paying those people so little, but I don't see how that enters into the equation at all.

    • FB is using the cheapest bid for food service they could get.

      . . . Facebook employees eat Soylent Green . . . ?

  • Headline is a lie. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by will_die ( 586523 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:21AM (#54890847) Homepage
    The headline and what can be gained is mostly a lie.
    The two people are not employees of facebook they are employees of Flagship Facility Services and happen to be working for their company at facebook hq.
  • What has society come to when these poor people aren't allowed to quit and find better employment. We should be ashamed of ourselves for forcing slavery on to our own citizens.

  • Getting paid to vacation FTW!

  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:46AM (#54891039)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Fix cost of living (Score:5, Informative)

    by ErichTheRed ( 39327 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @09:57AM (#54891145)

    The root of the problem is a lack of affordable places to live that aren't several hours' commute from places where people work. I live in the NY metro area, and even 60 miles away house prices are high in good school districts. Northern California is way worse -- you're starting at a million for ownership of any kind of home, which means you need a job that pays an outsized salary just to have a massive mortgage payment.

    This problem is repeated in cities all over the US to lesser degrees. Atlanta has very affordable housing if you're willing to put up with hours of driving, and Georgia has almost no property taxes...but in my opinion sitting on the road for another 10 or 15 hours a week isn't worth it.

    One fix I could see is to make retirement stability easier to maintain. So many people in our area have little saved for retirement and are banking on selling their high-priced house and moving to North Carolina or similar. It's their only retirement asset, and in the current environment it's in everyone's best interest to keep these mini housing bubbles inflated until they can cash out.

    • Asset bubbles are the problem. Inflating that bubble even more is not the solution, and that's exactly what happened with the 2008 bailouts. The real-estate bubble has grown so large that millions of people are going to be financially destroyed when that bubble pops. Not if, but when.
  • High costs, high taxes, and high regulation [battleswarmblog.com] that are driving people and businesses out of the state. The minimum wage hike is only going to accelerate the trend by driving more business to other states and causing those that can't move to either invest in automation to replace their existing workers, or just hire more illegal aliens.

    And the huge public sector union pension debt is going to cause more municipalities, and eventually the state itself, to go bankrupt.

  • We are seeing how capitalism can become a sick disaster. Hard working people who can barely stay alive surrounded by other others who are excessively wealthy is not an acceptable situation. john McCain is a republican. That is the same party that is messing with health care. He just had a dramatic surgery followed by being informed that he will have to battle a very deadly cancer. McCain has no problems getting top quality care. Now imagine if he was a poor uninsured working guy. Even with current,
    • > The problem is getting that top notch care to every single person

      You cannot. Society's ability to provide medical care is finite, and there is a range of medical care (graded by expense) possible.

      You have a choice:

      1) Pay or die. You have money and live, or don't and die.

      2) Eliminate any care you can't afford to provide for all. The poor do OK on average, others die unnecessarily because you're restricting their options.

      3) Blend it - have a basic level of tax-funded universal care for all, let the ri

    • Now imagine if he was a poor uninsured working guy..

      The folks in the article do have health care. They are required by law to purchase it, remember?
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

      Sure glad that is working out as intended.

  • Employees, or contractors, of a company with a contract for a different company are not employees of the purchasing company. These people are not Facebook employees. They are Facebook contractors. They may not even be employees of their direct company, if they have a 1099 agreement with them. In California, the term "employee" comes with an especially large amount of legal red tape.

    This is seriously like the most basic distinction ever, when running a business. If you do not understand this, and you're prov

  • Well, I see the problem, but is it a facebook problem? They are not even working for facebook.

  • WAIT (Score:5, Interesting)

    by DarkOx ( 621550 ) on Thursday July 27, 2017 @10:43AM (#54891597) Journal

    There is more to this story here. Health insurance can't cost more that 10% of your income: Thanks Obama. So how can they not afford FB's own health plan?

    They are staying in a garage adjacent to their parents house. I assume therefore this is in fact their parents garage. Mom and Dad can't give them a little break on the rent long enough for them to get some savings?

    I mean seriously if my kid had nowhere else to go with his family, and was apparently this broke. I think I'd say "Shit son, I'll back the cars out and you can stay in the garage, rent free as long as you need; if you'll clean any bird crap off the paint when you come home from work each day."

    I suspect there is more going here. Somebody has an insane pile of student loan or credit card debt would be my first two guesses. Spend every dime on some get rich stock scam that fell apart would be my third.

  • unless they are 1099 subcontractors the ACA health care rules say there work place must give them an plan.

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