Logos from Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft. Courtesy of Huzaifa abedeen/Creative Commons.
Over the past few weeks, all the major tech companies reported earnings for the first quarter of the year. Unsurprisingly, it was a blowout three months for most of them. Companies like Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft profited from people working, learning and lounging at home while the while the Covid-19 pandemic raged (and in some parts of the world, still does).
Consumers continue to buy smartphones, computers and tablets. Businesses of all sizes have accelerated their plans to adopt or expand digital services. And to top it all off, the lifeblood of the internet, digital advertising, also rebounded from a sluggish 2020 when marketing budgets were put on hold.
Overall, tech did quite well over the past year as it captured both consumer and enterprise demand for so-called stay-at-home products and services. How well?
Some of the revenues and profits that tech companies posted from January to March 2021:
· Amazon — $108.5 billion in revenue, $8.1 billion in profit
· Apple — $89.6 billion in revenue, $23.6 billion in profit
· Alphabet — $55.3 billion in revenue, $17.9 billion in profit
· Microsoft — $41.7 billion in revenue, $15.5 billion in profit
· Facebook — $26.1 billion in revenue, $9.5 billion in profit
It’s hard to predict how long Big Tech can sustain these profits (and growth cycles), but for now there’s been a tangible shift in the way we live. Many retail and service workers have gone back to work, but plenty of offices remain closed. Some workplaces are transitioning to hybrid schedules with employees splitting their time between the office and working from home. Even some schools are still letting students dial in remotely.
Tech companies like Twitter, Facebook and Microsoft have embraced the idea of flexible, hybrid and remote work as the new normal for their corporate workforces. Apple appears on board to some extent, though CEO Tim Cook has said he still values in-person collaboration. Google was a bit vague about its plans but after internal pushback said it would allow more flexibility. Amazon eventually wants most people back in the office.
It’s a sign of changing expectations from employees, who want flexibility to work from the location of their choosing whether it’s at home or the office.
But it’s also a good moment to remember that there’s always been a so-called K-shaped economy. In the US, higher income workers already received more benefits, flexibility and perks pre-pandemic. As some parts of the world recover from the worst of the pandemic, lots of workers still have no choice but to show up in-person to prepare lattes, assemble burritos, provide childcare, and keep facilities clean and running smoothly.
Lower- and middle-income workers have needed flexibility and stability for years, too, but are the least likely to get it.
For about a decade, I worked various service industry jobs (including stints as a cashier, deli server, movie theater attendee, barista and office temp worker). Aside from low wages, one of the most frustrating aspects of many of those jobs was not getting a predictable schedule, or little notice for my upcoming shifts. For parents who need to schedule childcare, it’s even more challenging. In 2014, San Francisco mandated that large employers give hourly workers their schedules two weeks in advance as part of a workers’ bill of rights.
But too bad if you’re exhausted, sick or burnt out — it’s still you’re responsibility to find someone to cover your shift if you need to call out. And if you can’t afford to lose a day’s income (or can’t afford to go to the doctor), you might go into work sick. Children also get sick. And emergencies can happen anytime.
About five years ago, while working one of these jobs, I asked the manager if I could leave a little early one day. It was slow, and I wanted to work on some personal projects. Her response was: if you have to leave, you have to leave, but I’m trying to run a business. Well, I was trying to live my life while helping her run that business. Maybe if the people in charge treated their workers as people with lives first, they’d have happier, more productive workers.
So when we have discussions about hybrid and flexible work, let’s remember that hourly and lower income wage earners need that, too.
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