{"id":342925,"date":"2017-06-07T05:19:28","date_gmt":"2017-06-06T21:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1500495"},"modified":"2017-06-07T05:19:28","modified_gmt":"2017-06-06T21:19:28","slug":"how-can-tech-companies-treat-their-contractors-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/how-can-tech-companies-treat-their-contractors-better\/","title":{"rendered":"How can tech companies treat their contractors better?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

TechCrunch held its<\/span> Justice Sessions event<\/span><\/a> at the Alamo Drafthouse at San Francisco on Tuesday, dedicated to conversations about underrepresented workers in tech.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to the technology industry, \u201cthe reality is the money is there and it\u2019s not trickling down,\u201d said Derecka Mehrens, who helped form<\/span> Silicon Valley Rising<\/span><\/a>, an organization dedicated to raising wages and building affordable housing. She said they are \u201clooking at how we can push back on this narrative that the Silicon Valley economy is working for everyone, because it\u2019s not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

They are helping low-wage employees improve their working conditions. \u201cWorking people do not have a resourced and organized way to get to the table with these companies,\u201d said Mehrens.<\/span><\/p>\n

Y-Vonne Hutchinson, a former international labor rights lawyer and<\/span> founder of Readyset<\/span><\/a>, spoke of some of the challenges in helping minorities succeed in contractor roles. \u00a0\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t treat the hiring of subcontractors like it\u2019s a foregone conclusion,\u201d said Hutchinson, suggesting that organizations do a better job of ensuring that the people in these roles are treated with respect after they get hired.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCompanies are choosing to structure their workforces in ways that are fundamentally untenable\u201d and makes it harder for them to keep tabs on what\u2019s going on with contractors. \u00a0Hutchinson\u2019s organization consults with startups and helps them improve diversity strategy, training and recruiting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also on stage was Jenny Morales, a subcontractor for the Aramark food and facilities team at Cisco. She discussed some of the hardships she and her colleagues previously faced, but said that reform at Cisco helped things get better.<\/span><\/p>\n

She said that at times subcontractors are marginalized and it \u201cdoesn\u2019t even feel like we exist anymore.\u201d We were \u201cnot being paid enough\u201d and \u201chealth insurance was extremely expensive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But she said that Cisco was likely inspired by political pressure at Intel and that it resulted in significant improvements for her team. It was \u201camazing to see the change in management,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hutchinson said one of the best ways to bring about change is to hit companies where it hurts, their bottom line. She cited Uber and Nike boycotts and how it put pressures on the organizations to make changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t use these companies\u2019 services, that\u2019s a great way to get them to listen to you,\u201d she said. They \u201ccare about their images and their brands.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" TechCrunch held its Justice Sessions event at the Alamo Drafthouse at San Francisco on Tuesday, dedicated to conversations about underrepresented workers in tech. When it comes to the technology industry, “the reality is the money is there and it’s not trickling down,” said Derecka Mehrens, who helped form Silicon Valley Rising, an organization dedicated to raising wages… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[59,66,26],"class_list":["post-342925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-media","tag-techcrunch","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342925\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}