Facebook has come out in favor of the minimum wage movement, announcing an increase in pay for contractors and vendors alongside other improvements in benefits.
In a blogpost on Wednesday, chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said the company would pay a minimum of $15 an hour, with 15 vacation days and a $4,000 bonus for having a child. The announcement comes as the Fight for $15 movement is gaining steam across the country, with protests directed at employers, especially large corporations, as recently as last Friday.
“Today, I am pleased to announce that we are implementing a new set of standards on benefits for contractors and vendors who support Facebook in the US and do a substantial amount of work with us,” wrote Sandberg. “Taking these steps is the right thing to do for our business and our community. Women, because they comprise about two-thirds of minimum wage workers nationally, are particularly affected by wage adjustments. Research also shows that providing adequate benefits contributes to a happier and ultimately more productive workforce.”
Sandberg, arguably the highest-profile female executive in the US, has often spoken out on matters of gender parity in parts of the tech sector hostile to women, and has criticized sexist media coverage as well as the ingrained problems at work faced by women in her industry and elsewhere. Last year she co-bylined a series of op-eds in the New York Times on women in the workplace.
But she has been at the center of wage-related controversy as recently as 2013, when her Lean In foundation, which exists to empower women and girls, posted a listing for unpaid interns. (The foundation subsequently agreed to pay its interns.)
Today’s announcement was met with praise from labor leaders. “Facebook’s decision is a direct result of security officers and shuttle drivers joining together for a stronger Silicon Valley,” said SEIU United Service Workers West president David Huerta. “We see this as a great first step and we will continue to work with good corporate citizens like Facebook who are heeding the call to raise standards and respect service workers’ right to organize a union.”
