TechHR
ex
L&D
UNPLUGGED
Sphere
About Us • Contact Us
People Matters Logo
Login / Signup
People Matters Logo
Login / Signup
  • Current
  • Top Stories
  • News
  • Magazine
  • Research
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Podcast

© Copyright People Matters Media Pte. Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

 

 

  • HotTopic
    LeadersSpeak
  • Strategy
    Leadership Csuite StrategicHR EmployeeRelations
  • Recruitment
    Employer Branding Appointments Permanent Hiring Recruitment
  • Performance
    Skilling PerformanceMgmt Compensation Benefits L&D Employee Engagement
  • Culture
    Culture Life@Work Diversity Watercooler SheMatters
  • Tech
    Technology HR Technology Funding & Investment Startups Metaverse
  • About Us
  • Advertise with us
  • Become a sponsor
  • Contact Us
  • Feedback
  • Submission Guidelines

Follow us:

Privacy Policy • Terms of Use

© Copyright People Matters Media Pte. Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

People Matters Logo
  • Current
  • Top Stories
  • News
  • Magazine
  • Research
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Podcast
Login / Signup

Categories:

  • HotTopic
    LeadersSpeak
  • Strategy
    Leadership Csuite StrategicHR EmployeeRelations
  • Recruitment
    Employer Branding Appointments Permanent Hiring Recruitment
  • Performance
    Skilling PerformanceMgmt Compensation Benefits L&D Employee Engagement
  • Culture
    Culture Life@Work Diversity Watercooler SheMatters
  • Tech
    Technology HR Technology Funding & Investment Startups Metaverse
AI firm haunted by ghost workers over pay

News • 1st Nov 2022 • 3 Min Read

AI firm haunted by ghost workers over pay

Compensation & BenefitsEmployee Relations

Author: People Matters Editorial Team People Matters Editorial Team
3.7K Reads
Unlike regular employees, ghost workers are at a disadvantage because they don't enjoy full benefits and protection from employment malpractice.

Several ghost workers for an Australian AI company are speaking out against their employer for allegedly underpaying them due to missing invoices.

The term ‘ghost worker’ refers to individuals hired by a tech firm to label data used to train AI systems. They categorise text, transcribe audio files, and tag photos and videos manually to make search functions for voice assistants work.

Unlike regular employees, ghost workers are often only contracted by AI companies. They don’t enjoy the same benefits, such as leave credits, as their full time counterparts. They also don’t have much negotiating power with their employers.

Read more: University underpaid staff by 'mistake'

Missing invoices

Appen, a Sydney-based AI firm, is one of the biggest employers of ghost workers in the world. The company purportedly enlists 1 million "flexible contributors" in over 170 countries. It counts Amazon, Boeing, and Google as some of their biggest clients.

However, Appen has come under fire from its workers because of multiple issues. These include missed invoices, poor communication from company leaders, and projects that don’t make sense or disappear with no reason.

Several Reddit users also posted on the popular forum website to warn other people about working at Appen. Some of these posts had titles like "Appen, save yourself time and frustration" and "Beware of Appen!!".

In an article by ABC, Appen contractors revealed that there were times when their invoices were delayed or missed for an entire month.

One of the employees interviewed even showed his invoice tab on Appen's dashboard with no invoice for June. The missing invoice amounted to hundreds of hours of pay.

Christina Golden, a spokesperson for Appen, admitted that there have been issues with the company’s invoices for one of their projects this year. She claimed that they have already addressed these problems.

“We have always kept open communication with our contributors,” Golden said. “If they have a need to share feedback anonymously, we have a whistleblower hotline that is given to all contributors.”

However, some Appen employees don’t agree with how their employer is handling the situation. They said they only get slow and generic responses whenever they try to raise concerns about their jobs or pay.

Read more: Convenience store to pay $6M over wage dispute

Salary issues

Appen workers also told ABC about issues with their pay, pointing out that they only receive salaries that were around or just above minimum wage based on their location.

Golden said Appen has always used location-based minimum wage for its workers to make sure that they were "paying above".

“Rates vary by the project due to the different levels of difficulties or expertise required to complete the task,” she said.

Crowd conditions have been one of Appen’s major concerns, as stated in its 2021 annual report. The company has had customers ask about worker conditions, such as how content moderation is handled. This is important since people could encounter extreme and disturbing content.

Underappreciated workers

It is rare for big tech firms to acknowledge the work done for them by smaller companies like Appen. This makes it even less likely for Appen’s ghost workers to get the recognition that they deserve for helping train the company’s systems.

Jathan Sadowski, a senior research fellow at Monash University and expert on digital technology, believes data labour involving ghost workers is not discussed enough by the public. These workers don’t receive the same level of respect and pay as others in the tech industry.

For Sadowski, data annotation work will only become more specialised once companies are able to develop AI systems for industries such as insurance or medicine.

Read More

Did you find this article helpful?


You Might Also Like

Understanding employee rewards and penalties

NEWS • 2nd Feb 2023 • 2 Min Read

Understanding employee rewards and penalties

Compensation & Benefits#Work Culture
Apple CEO to take a 40% pay cut

NEWS • 13th Jan 2023 • 1 Min Read

Apple CEO to take a 40% pay cut

LeadershipCompensation & Benefits
Gen Z Australians are struggling financially

NEWS • 15th Nov 2022 • 2 Min Read

Gen Z Australians are struggling financially

Compensation & Benefits
NEXT STORY: High performers don't want to be watched at all times: study

Trending Stories

  • design-thinking-hr

    The Davos experience: G-P founder Nicole Sahin shares some t...

  • design-thinking-hr

    Adani-Hindenburg Saga: What the future holds for business ty...

  • design-thinking-hr

    Employee Engagement: FAIL. What next?

  • design-thinking-hr

    The fall of Adani: One report, and a 52% crash in value

People Matters Logo

Follow us:

Join our mailing list:

By clicking “Subscribe” button above, you are accepting our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Company:

  • About Us
  • Advertise with us
  • Become a sponsor
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Contact:

  • Contact Us
  • Feedback
  • Submission Guidelines

© Copyright People Matters Media Pte. Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Get the latest Articles, Insight, News & Trends from the world of Talent & Work. Subscribe now!
People Matters Logo

Welcome Back!

Enter your registered email address to login

Not a user yet? Lets get you signed up!

A 5 digit OTP has been sent to your email address.

This is so we know it's you. Haven't received it yet? Resend the email or then change your email ID.

People Matters Logo

Welcome! Let's get you signed up...

Starting with the absolulte basics.

Already a user? Go ahead and login!

A 5 digit OTP has been sent to your email address.

This is so we know it's you. Haven't received it yet? Resend the email or then change your email ID.

Let's get to know you better

We'll never share your details with anyone, pinky swear.

And lastly...

Your official designation and company name.