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Apple asks its San Diego Siri quality control team to relocate to Texas (www.theverge.com)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

69 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I’m sure women will be stoked to have Apple relocate them to a state that could kill them.

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[–] [email protected] 152 points 10 months ago (18 children)

Leave a state with abortion protections and move to a hellhole where you can be thrown in jail if you have an abortion, or left to die if you have a complicated pregnancy. This is basically a potential death sentence (or jail sentence) for any women on the team.

That’s according to Bloomberg, which reported that an Apple spokesperson confirmed that the team, which listens to recordings of Siri interactions to make sure it responded appropriately, will “have the opportunity to continue their role with Apple in Austin.”

Why do you need to uproot people and force them to relocate to a dangerous backwoods shithole just to listen to recordings on their computers anyways? This is a work from home job.

[–] [email protected] 126 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (7 children)

It's just another stealth layoff. They've calculated that x% would rather quit than move, and that probably roughly corresponds with the amount of people they want to cut. On top of that, Texas probably provides tax incentives and has a cheaper labour pool and fewer labour protections.

[–] namingthingsiseasy 13 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Speaking of labour protections, is this even legal? Or is it a case of illegal, but good luck with the courts? I would think that at least California would have protections against something like this.

For example, let's just consider housing: imagine you bought a house when interest rates were 3% - now they can just force you to sell it and buy a new one with a 9% rate (or force you to rent)?

But I guess they can just call it a layoff instead so they can get away with it or something

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It's perfectly legal, unless there are some additional details not mentioned. For instance, if it amounted to discrimination on race, or was in retaliation for unionizing. What would be illegal about it? California can't just force a company to stay in one place. Companies move offices, even headquarters, all the time.

Your math would be covered by what's known as a relocation package. Often, it's a basic lump sum to (theoretically) cover the costs of moving. You can either accept it or not. Same for any pay adjustments that may come with it.

Layoff isn't a legal term. The closest would be terminated without cause, which is exactly what this is. Since California (along with every state that isn't Montana) is an "At will" state, this again is perfectly legal.

It's a shitty decision, but there's nothing stopping them from making it.

[–] namingthingsiseasy 9 points 10 months ago

Thanks for explaining. That's insane. I guess the only real solution is to unionize. If there's no legal protection, then I suppose a union is the only thing you can rely on to prevent yourself from getting fucked over like this.

I sincerely hope people take their experiences from this dark period of history and learn from them.

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