Mason Company Webhelp Americas to Lay Off Up to Half of Workforce

Mason company Webhelp Americas to lay off up to 150 employees over the next month-and-a-half. Photo: Solen Feyissa, Unsplash” class=”uk-display-block uk-position-relative uk-visible-t… Webhelp Americas, a tech company based locally in Mason, Ohio, has announced plans to lay off up to 150 staff members over the course of the next two months out of their approximately 300 total employees. The layoffs are part of a move to reduce overhead costs, as per the wishes of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. Employees have reported facing post-traumatic stress disorder due to what they have seen, and many are worried about their future due to the forthcoming insecurity of finding a stable job in the current market. Layoffs are to be implemented on Oct. 8, although employees are expected to receive a reduction in hours much sooner, with many reporting that the process is already taking place.

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A tech company based locally has recently announced plans to lay off up to 150 staff members over the course of the next two months out of their approximately 300 total employees.

Webhelp Americas, which is originally based in Paris, France, but has a branch locally in Mason, Ohio, primarily works in the field of social media content moderation. The Mason branch specifically is contracted with ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.

Content moderation refers to tracking instances of user-generated content and making determinations as to whether they violate the policies of the company that the moderator is employed with. As reported on by The Verge in regards to Facebook, this often results in employees facing illegal content, which can be extremely traumatic. Things like intense gore, child pornography, graphic fighting and hateful slurs are run of the mill in the industry, according to The Verge. Throughout the industry, content moderators have reported facing post-traumatic stress disorder due to what they have seen.

The recent layoffs at Webhelp were announced in a move to reduce overhead costs, as per the wishes of ByteDance. Some of the employees may, however, be chosen to remain on staff as part-time employees or for reduced hours, though it’s unclear to what degree this will affect their ability to afford living costs.

“They want as few full-time employees as possible, and I can’t afford to only have a part-time job. I’ll either need to go find a second part-time job or a new full-time one…And that’s if I get chosen, which I know I won’t be,” says one employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, about how these layoffs will affect their wages.

Employees already were dissatisfied with Webhelp’s payment and benefits, saying they weren’t sufficient for the cost of living.

“The benefits are bare minimum, expensive and don’t cover gender affirming care. Management isn’t reliable on any level, and the high levels of uncertainty and irregularity in reliability from our leaders is horrible for my anxiety,” the anonymous employee told CityBeat. “It also creates this environment of mistrust between us lower level workers in regards to the higher ups. They promised so much when I was interviewed for the job and almost none of it was true.”

According to publicly available job listings, employees make between $18-$21.50 an hour in addition to benefits such as a 401(k) and health insurance. Many employees are left worried for their jobs as a result of this forthcoming insecurity, in particular due to the difficulties many report with finding a stable job in the current market.

This goes in tandem with issues employees cite about the work culture, which often was extremely demanding, causing additional mental strain and stress on the workforce.

“They said no one is guaranteed a job if you’re a lower totem pole worker like myself. I have limited availability due to having a home business and I’m chronically ill which affects my attendance,” said the anonymous employee. “They’re looking to keep only the closest to perfect employees and I know I’m not one of them thanks to my illness…the day the layoffs were announced I immediately went and started applying for new jobs. I know I’m not going to make the cut.”

Layoffs are to be implemented on Oct. 8, although employees are expected to receive a reduction in hours much sooner, with many reporting that the process is already taking place.

A representative for Webhelp responded to CityBeat‘s request for comment by saying, “Markets are rapidly changing, and the needs of our strategic client partners are continually evolving so, when any reduction in workforce is necessary, we always try to minimize the impact on our people by offering redeployment opportunities within Webhelp wherever possible. We remain committed to the Mason site and will support our people throughout.”

주제: Cincinnati, Ohio

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