Home to the largest tech companies in the world, Silicon Valley has long been called the cradle of innovation, a place where Steve Jobs observed the beehive effect—the exchange of talent between clustered industries making them all innovate better.
And so, as the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus spread throughout the globe over the last couple of months, all eyes were on Silicon Valley for how it dealt with the scourge. The pandemic brought to the fore both Big Tech’s strengths and its weaknesses. Here’s a look at nine lessons the world can learn from Silicon Valley’s response to COVID-19.
1) Social distancing at an early stage: The San Francisco Bay Area was the first region in the US to call for a near-complete lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. Days later, the entire state of California adopted a similar measure, followed by other states in America. However, a week before the shelter-in-place orders in the Bay Area, tech companies had already begun asking their employees to work from home. While it’s too early to say for sure, this early tryst with social distancing may well be credited for what might just be a flattening of the curve.
2) Battling misinformation: COVID-19 isn’t the only thing going viral these days. Misinformation about the virus is spreading across the globe. While tech firms have long been criticised for the sheer volume of misinformation shared on their platforms, Big Tech is now being widely praised for its efforts in combating fake news. A whole host of large tech companies signed a joint statement on their commitment to come together and battle misinformation about COVID-19 on their platforms, from pulling down spurious ads to flagging fake content.
3) Gathering data to map social distancing: Large tech platforms could share data gathered from the phones of Americans with the US government to track people’s movements and see whether they’re practising social distancing. This data could be used to predict the next COVID-19 hotspot. Companies insist the data will be aggregated and anonymised so that it cannot be traced to an individual. Though valuable in saving lives, it raises major privacy concerns about the threat of overreach.
4) Corporate philanthropy: Even the biggest critics of the tech industry have acknowledged the importance of corporate philanthropy to battle COVID-19 at a time when the US government was seen falling short. Billions have been donated by Silicon Valley tycoons, both locally and globally, for research on vaccines, to help those who are already sick with their bills along with donations to help small businesses stay afloat in times of crisis, including allowing them free ad space on their platforms.
While the money is crucial at this moment, sceptics have questioned the over-reliance on corporate philanthropy and asked why billionaires have so much money in the first place. Some point to how tax evasions could have helped them grow rich at the expense of a strong public sector that should have been handling the crisis. None of these concerns should, in the short-term, take away from the benefits of their contributions to society now.
5) Perks that ease the drudgery of #WFH: Working from home can be a trifle tedious. Employees miss their regular desks, standing desks and ergonomic chairs as they struggle with sitting for hours at a
dining table or hunched in bed with a laptop. Companies are now giving their workforce allowances for office furniture at home.
Many employees also miss the lavish cuisines available each day on tech campuses. Some tech companies are giving their employees money to order a meal from a restaurant every week. This helps a floundering restaurant industry too.
6) Recreating social spaces online: Possibly the most painful part of working from home involves the sheer absence of casual social interactions with colleagues. Many tech firms provide recreational activities on campus, like carpentry and gaming zones, that employees now miss. Colleagues at tech offices are now trying to recreate social interactions using the web. Some are doing yoga and high-intensity interval training together online.
7) Paid leave for parents: With schools closed and parents juggling jobs and childcare, firms are offering employees paid time off to take care of their children.
8) Battling inequality: A rising number of Silicon Valley tech companies run due to gig workers, like drivers and delivery workers, many of whom risk contracting COVID-19 if they go to work, but can’t afford leave. As labour organisations in Silicon Valley, the heart of free-market capitalism, raise their voices on behalf of this vulnerable section of society, the region holds important lessons on combating rising inequality.
Take, for instance, drivers who work for ride-share apps and are supposed to receive sick leave if they contract COVID-19 or need to quarantine themselves. Some complain that they received no compensation when they fell sick, and were, instead, thrown off the app. These gig workers cannot, as yet, apply for unemployment benefits in California. The land of tech billionaires has long been plagued with inequality. The pandemic is forcing some companies to pay their dues.
9) Confronting unfair labour practices: Silicon Valley has long been criticised for creating a shadow workforce of contract workers, who perform the same function as regular employees but with less pay and perks.
This crisis is forcing tech to take a long, hard look at this undesirable labour practice. Many contract workers were in limbo when the pandemic hit, unsure if they’d still have a job or be able to access the workplace from laptops at home. Some did not even know whether they were eligible to work from home and went to the office when others were home. Many firms, under scrutiny for their treatment of contract workers, are now committing to paying them, even if they’re unable to work at the moment. The crisis is forcing firms to re-evaluate the benefits that they receive.
Anahita Mukherji
An independent journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area Tweets @newspaperwalli