It goes by many names: "Corporate Memphis," the "tech aesthetic." You can make your own with "illustration systems" like Humaaans, or pay someone $10 on Fiverr to make them for you. Like so many bad things on the internet, you can trace these colorful images of people with "non-representational skin colors" back to Facebook. The "illustration and animation ecosystem" is called "Facebook Alegria" (Alegria is Spanish for "joy.") But to some, these illustrations are anything but joyful as they've come to symbolize everything that's wrong with art in the age of the gig economy. Read about the plight of the overworked, underpaid freelance illustrator and the importance of not skimping on original illustration.
Elsewhere on Workplace our reporters have been busy delving into vaccine mandates in Texas, company codes of conduct, the unprecedented public grumblings of Apple employees and how one head of diversity is solving the company's labor shortage by finding talent in places others don't think to look.
As always, I'm available via email or on Twitter at @meganmorrone for any tips, story ideas, illustrations that don't look like Facebook Alegria, or questions you want answered about the tech workplace.
See you next week,
Senior Editor, Protocol Workplace
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At The Office
How will tech vaccine mandates play out in red states?
It's not just the companies based in left-leaning, West Coast tech hubs that are requiring employees to get vaccinated before coming to the office.
Houston-based Hewlett Packard Enterprise said Tuesday that it would implement its own vaccine mandate, demanding that workers submit proof of vaccination in a mandate that goes into effect in October.
"It is now clear that COVID-19 is going to be with us for a while, and that getting back to normal will take more than masks and distancing," tweeted HPE CEO Antonio Neri, who survived the virus himself last year.
Mandates at companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft haven't inspired any widespread backlash from employees — at least not publicly, and not yet — but some companies have reported pushback from employees in regions of the country with lower vaccination rates.
We'll see how HPE's mandate plays out among its employee base in Texas, a state whose government has shown particular hostility to vaccine mandates.
The Workforce
Your code of conduct has a problem
HR managers and lawyers usually write workplace handbook policies to protect companies from legal liability — and to make it easier to fire people. What they don't often do is write codes of conduct that enshrine workplace expectations beyond the law, like what defines a toxic workplace or how managers should treat their teams.
"In some places, they use the code of conduct as a cudgel for the letter of the law, as opposed to actually looking for the intent. A code of conduct, typically, is intended to protect companies. That is their raison d'etre. Should it be that way? No, in my opinion," Lisa Gelobter, the CEO of third-party ombuds service tEQuitable, told Protocol.
Ellen Pao, the CEO of non-profit advocacy group Project Include, says workers and company leaders need to partner together to define institutional values and explain how those should be enacted in practice. And to ensure that workers trust their companies when they investigate code-of-conduct violations, Pao also wonders if there needs to be some industry-wide funded service. "I just worry about the business model. You have to be a really strong leader in an outside organization to report really terrible problems," she told me.
— Anna Kramer (twitter)
A MESSAGE FROM TRELLO
In today's world, hybrid organizations face more challenges than ever. For companies to stay competitive, leaders need to proactively spot gaps, identify opportunities, and streamline work. Uncover how Trello Enterprise can help teams break down those department silos and share key information for more collaborative work.
Office Politics
Internal rebellion brewing at Apple
The usually quiet Apple workplace has been bubbling over with public protests the last six months; first there was a (successful) petition to dismiss a well-known new hire with a sexist reputation, then a public letter demanding more flexible return-to-work policies. In the last week, Apple workers have spoken publicly about two more major workplace issues: Apple forced one engineering manager on leave after she tweeted about her experiences of sexism at work, and the company has also removed three employee-run pay equity surveys from the company's internal messaging platform. That's a lot of public outrage from a normally well-controlled staff.
— AK
DEI
Finding an untapped talent pool
There is a problem with the pipeline, but not in the way some in the tech industry want you to think. There's not a lack of people of color with the skills necessary to succeed in the tech industry. There is, however, a lack of ingenuity in how tech companies think about where to find talent.
Shaka Senghor, the head of diversity at corporate travel startup TripActions, sees an untapped talent opportunity in "systems-impacted" communities, he told Protocol.
- "It's not just people coming out of incarceration, it's also people coming out of foster care, it's people coming out of communities that oftentimes resources don't reach or people don't think of when they think of creativity, curiosity and all of the things that make a great employee," he said.
A MESSAGE FROM TRELLO
Powering a productive team means using a powerful tool. Meet Trello Enterprise: the tool designed to help your team move work forward. Trello Enterprise makes it easy to collaborate with teammates, organize tasks, and understand what's due now (and what's up next). It's more than work. It's a way of working together.
What We're Reading
- The company that recruits Silicon Valley's senior leadership faces troubling workplace allegations - "... the firm tasked with getting adults in the room at some of the most prestigious startups in Silicon Valley had no adults in the room."
- Training self-driving cars for $1 an hour - "Based everywhere from Kenya to the Philippines, these workers play a crucial but rarely acknowledged role in one of the most prominent parts of the tech industry."
- Advice for large teams on Slack - "There's really no such thing as 'too many channels'"
Thanks for reading! Thoughts, questions, tips? Send them to workplace@protocol.com. Enjoy your day; see you next week.