Making rent in Silicon Valley

The promise of Silicon Valley’s gig economy can sound appealing - like freedom from a corporate schedule, opportunities to make any idea a reality... In reality, blue collar independent contractors at tech companies like Facebook and Google work long hours for low pay and struggle to make rent in an area where the average one bedroom goes for over $2,000 a month. Neha visits the Silicon Valley area to learn how gig economy workers are making ends meet in the most expensive area of the country. We reached out to Facebook, Google and the security company Allied Universal several times for comment. Facebook was the only one who responded. Below is their statement: Statement: “Our vendor workers are valued members of our community. We are committed to providing a safe, fair, work environment to everyone who helps Facebook bring the world closer together, including vendor employees and contingent workers.”– Facebook Spokesperson SOURCES & FURTHER READING Tech’s Invisible Workforce https://wpusa.org/files/reports/Techs... Tech's top five now worth more than $3 trillion http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/31/inves... California's top court makes it more difficult for employers to classify workers as independent contractors http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la... CREDITS Producer: Neha Shastry Camera: Ilie Mitaru Editor: Michelle Pomeroy Supervising Producer: Allison Brown Follow Beme on Instagram:   / bemenews   Twitter:   / bemeapp   Facebook:   / officialbeme