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Evil Inc (thelemmy.club)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/fuck_ai@lemmy.world
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[–] 32 points 2 months ago* (8 children)

My understanding is that this isn't what happened.

Meta laid off a bunch of employees. Meta claims they used an AI to gauge employees' productivity as a basis for who they laid off. The employees are accusing Meta of laying off employees who took too much medical leave.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 months ago (6 children)

    That is more plausible, though still discriminatory

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  • [–] -4 points 2 months ago (5 children)

    Depends. If employees lost productivity due to medical leave, then it makes sense. It's one of the biggest parts of why women in the US (and around the world) are generally paid less, because they have children and are often out of the workforce for a period of time, ie lack of productivity.

    Even in countries that allow for parental leave for both parents, you see couples still doing work arounds to keep at least one parent (often the male) in the workforce so they don't lose out on their career path.

    Same thing has happened to say millenials with the 2008 financial crisis. They lost productivity and were stunted in their career paths due to it, and the same thing is/has happened due to COVID.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    I get that this might not be your opinion, so this isn’t intended as an attack, but damn it’s a messed up way to frame things. How dare humans follow their biological calling and build families instead of “being productive” for a boss!

    And it’s all the more reason to make parental leave universal for all parents, regardless of gender. Women wouldn’t be discriminated in the work force, and fathers could bond with their kids during a crucial part of their lives

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (2 children)

    Let me try framing it another way. Consider two women, one who chooses not to have a child and one who does, sacrificing some of her work productivity in the process.

    Couldn't one say that the latter, sacrificed some of her pay in order to raise the child? Of course I'd argue the same for the father, if he sacrificed productivity as well (and if he didn't he's probably not a great father).

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    There are some places in Europe where practically entire towns will take a month off for vacation. Stores close, people travel, and it's normal. Bosses don't come down on employees about it, it's part of the culture to have a work-life balance. Add up those months over the course of a lifetime, and that's a lot more "time off" than the mere weeks some women get in the US for maternity leave (if we're lucky enough to have a job that allows for it.)

    I understand that time off can lead to "lost productivity," but that misses the point. The point is that a culture that prioritizes "productivity at all times" has it backwards. There's so much more to life than working. A month off here or there doesn't make the world stop spinning. If the culture at large respected the need for work-life balance, this wouldn't be an issue at all.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago

    There's nothing wrong with work-life balance. But those who work more should be paid more right? If you want to take more time off, for personal reasons or to care for your child, then there's no shame in taking a pay cut to do so. Or simply moving to a job that is lower salary but more flexible. Your life doesn't have to revolve around work and money. But likewise, somebody else might want to work more, and it feels normal for them to get paid more too.

    And I'm not asking us to move back to when 80 hour work weeks were the norm, I think you can still get good work-life balance with 40 hour work weeks.

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