Dive Brief:

• Facebook announced it's raising contract workers' pay. Workers in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City and Washington, D.C., will receive a raise "to a minimum of $20 per hour." For workers in Seattle, the minimum will be $18 per hour. The social media giant said it's increasing wages to reflect contract workers' local costs of living, expanding their benefits and offering more supportive programs based on the nature of their jobs.
• The contract workers include content reviewers and those working in security, food services and transportation. In 2015, Facebook offered contract workers a $15 an hour minimum wage, sick leave and vacation time and a $4,000 new-child benefit for parents without paid parental leave. It required U.S. vendors to provide healthcare to employees working for Facebook in 2016.
• The company said it pays its site reviewers more than minimum-wage standards "because their work is critical to keeping our community safe, and it's often difficult." Depending on their location, site reviewers could receive a pay increase ranging from $18 to $22 per hour. The company said it plans to partner with vendors to offer ongoing well-being and resiliency training, add features to its sites that allow reviewers to customize the way they see content and require vendor partners to provide onsite counseling services.

Dive Insight:

It appears companies are recognizing how contract workers contribute to their success, and compensating them accordingly.

Facebook is joining other tech companies, like Google, in raising base pay and offering benefits to their vendors' temporary and contract workers. Google implemented a $15 minimum wage requirement for contract workers, among other benefits, following the November walkout staged by its workers, who called for better benefits and other concessions, especially for temporary and contract workers.

Facebook has had its own controversies involving the treatment of contract workers. The Verge reported in February that the company's contractors serving as content moderators in Phoenix, Arizona, were suffering from long-term mental health problems resulting from their jobs. According to The Verge, their duties required them to view high volumes of violent and disconcerting content, which caused them to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder symptoms.