April 14, 2022

Photo: Susan Fisher Plotner/View Pictures/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Welcome back to our Workplace newsletter. Today: Why tech companies are paying for employees who need to travel out of state for abortion access, Google’s $9.5 billion investment in its data centers and offices, and more data on why your employees are a flight risk.
— Michelle Ma, reporter (email | twitter)
Welcome to another week in this strange reality we call the present, during which yet another COVID variant is making its way across the U.K. and companies are finding themselves again stepping into weirder and thoroughly modern roles that, frankly, companies shouldn’t have to be stepping into, and yet here we are.
I’m talking about the fact that Yelp announced this week that it would be joining a slew of other companies that pledged to pay for employees to travel out of state to access abortions.
This all invites the question: Is it and should it be the responsibility of tech companies to assist employees with abortion access? We generally want to keep our personal lives separate from work, at least to a certain degree. Meanwhile, getting an abortion is perhaps one of the most intensely personal and private experiences of a person’s life.
The privacy implications are also worth considering. Should employees have to disclose something as personal as needing an abortion to their HR departments? Would they feel comfortable? How would companies make sure that information is secure?
I’m reminded of a similar debate on miscarriage leave. Few organizations currently offer this type of leave, but there’s a growing consensus that maybe it’s not realistic or humane to expect people to go right back to work after something as physically and emotionally scarring as a miscarriage. Companies probably shouldn’t be in the position to make decisions about personal and sensitive issues like employee miscarriages or abortions, but as long as health care plans are tied to our employment, this might be inevitable.
We’ll be watching how the wider tech industry responds to ongoing and future abortion legislation, as well as how other companies are thinking about their shifting responsibilities towards their employees. If your company is trying out a new policy on either of these fronts, please let me know: mma@protocol.com.Google announced yesterday that it’s spending billions of dollars on offices and data centers across the United States and hopes to open up 12,000 new jobs this year. It might seem odd to expand while companies continue to work from home, but Google is not the only tech giant growing its office presence. Here’s how Google hopes to spend the dough:
More than ever, employees value their everyday work-life experience. With TouchTunes Unlimited, your employees choose the music and create the office vibe together. Leverage the power of social music to build a fun workplace culture and open new possibilities for creative team-building interactions.
It’s never too late for Zoom tips. I compiled eight useful ones back in October, but this week online educator Tessa Davis tweeted out more. Here are my favorites:
Execs who are still looking for explanations behind the Great Resignation, you’re in luck. Lattice just conducted a new survey of 2,000 U.S.- and Europe-based employees and found some interesting tidbits:
Customer chat software company Intercom appointed L. David Kingsley as its first chief people officer. Previously, Kingsley was chief people officer at Alteryx.
More than ever, employees value their everyday work-life experience. With TouchTunes Unlimited, your employees choose the music and create the office vibe together. Leverage the power of social music to build a fun workplace culture and open new possibilities for creative team-building interactions.
It’s the month of Ramadan. Support your observing colleagues.
Here’s how Uber and Lyft compromised with labor in Washington state — and kept drivers from becoming employees.
Do you have trouble focusing? Try Flow Club, a remote study hall for workers.
Amazon warehouse injuries spiked 20% in 2021. They accounted for nearly half of all warehouse injuries in the U.S.
WeWork is launching WeWork Workplace, a software tool for managing employees.
A roundup of workplace news from the farthest corners of the internet.
Here’s how onboarding can make or break a new hire’s experience.
Amazon is targeting high schoolers in a recruitment blitz, its latest effort to staff up warehouses.
Russian tech industry is facing a major “brain drain” as workers flee by the thousands.
A Stack Overflow study examines what makes tech workers really happy. But actually.
Here’s what tech companies can do to grow their Black workforce.
Thoughts, questions, tips? Send them to workplace@protocol.com. Have a great day, see you Sunday.
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