To reassure clients that this shift would not lead to a drop in standards, Teleperformance rolled out extensive surveillance systems, using both proprietary and third-party software to monitor its employees. NBC news revealed last year that Teleperformance workers in Colombia, including those subcontracted to Apple and Uber, had been pressured to sign contracts giving the company the right to install cameras in their homes.
Carolina, a former TikTok moderator who worked remotely for Teleperformance between June and September 2020, said supervisors asked her to be on camera continuously during her night shift. She was also warned that nobody else should be in view of the camera, and that her desk should be empty, apart from a drink in a transparent cup.
“That was terrible, because my family lives in my house as well,” Carolina said. “So I felt very guilty telling them, ‘Please don’t pass behind the camera because I could be fired’. Teleperformance is especially paranoid with people seeing what we do.”
Current moderators did not say they had to work on camera, but they do have to clock in and out and log any breaks on an app called Timekeeper. When Álvaro was once a few minutes back from the break on his overnight shift, his supervisor subsequently contacted him and put him on an action form.
A TikTok spokesperson said: “We strive to promote a caring working environment for our employees and contractors. Our Trust and Safety team partners with third party firms on the critical work of helping to protect the TikTok platform and community, and we continue to expand on a range of wellness services so that moderators feel supported mentally and emotionally.”
Union busting
Outsourcing moderation to countries in the global south like Colombia works for businesses because it is cheap, and workers are poorly protected. Carolina, who left Teleperformance two years ago, said: “It’s very important for people to get to know that this is abusive, and they’re just companies taking advantage of the terrible economical situation that we’ve got for young people in Latin America.”
Utraclaro, a Colombian union which represents IT and call centre workers, has been trying to organise Teleperformance staff – including TikTok moderators – for more than two years. It has been a slow and laborious process, with pushback from the company at every stage.
The union’s key demands are that the company must allow workers to form a union without intimidation and that union reps are allowed access to the workplace to talk to their colleagues. Teleperformance did not comment on specific allegations of union-busting in Colombia.
Eyewitnesses who asked to remain anonymous said they had seen union organisers harassed several times by security staff while trying to speak to Teleperformance workers at a business park in Bogotá.
When organisers gave out flyers or attempted to speak to workers taking their breaks outside the Teleperformance offices, the park’s private security guards followed them and told them to stop. One person said she had seen a Teleperformance worker watch the organisers, and then speak with the security guards. After this, more security guards were watching them.
On another occasion, the guards called the police after arguing with the organisers about their right to be there.
“Even if you’re in a public area they don’t care, they will harass you, they’ll call the police,” said another source. “And because it’s a big company, the police also will be in their favour.”
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Behind TikTok's boom: A legion of traumatised, $10-a-day content moderators - The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
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