SOMO: Big Tech supply chains foster range of labour violations from precarity and lack of social protections, to unfair dismissal, below minimum wages and barriers to organising

Key insights

Behind most AI products are thousands of workers who label, annotate, and clean data. Their work is essential but largely precarious and invisible.
SOMO’s research found Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia combined use at least 30 intermediary companies for data work, ranging from outsourcing companies to crowdwork platforms.
Several intermediary companies used by Big Tech are accused of failing to provide fair and safe working conditions, including paying below minimum wages, dismissing workers unfairly, preventing collective organising, and providing no social protections.
Even when not directly employing data workers, major tech companies influence working conditions through pricing pressures and tight deadlines and by shifting contracts between vendors. Their decisions have immediate consequences for workers’ pay, stability, and job security.
Big Tech is not just a customer. It also invests in data work vendors and integrates them into its cloud marketplaces. This increases its responsibility towards AI supply chain workers.

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Replies from Amazon, Appen and AI can be read here.]