Meta to Cut Over 2,000 Jobs at Barcelona Content Moderation Center
Meta is set to eliminate more than 2,000 jobs at its content moderation center in Barcelona, following the termination of its contract with Canadian company Telus, according to local unions CCOO and UGT.
The company, operating under the name CCC Barcelona Digital Services, informed its employees by email on Thursday that they were being placed on gardening leave, after a client notified them on April 1st of the suspension of services.
The email, which Reuters had access to, did not directly mention the client, but the unions specified that the client of Telus was Meta.
Two employees, a former and a current one, who requested anonymity due to their non-disclosure agreements, indicated that the team was responsible for content moderation for Meta.
"Our clients are diversifying their presence and shifting their services to other sites," Telus explained, emphasizing that the contract was still in effect. The company stated that it would support affected members during negotiations with the unions.
A Meta spokesperson confirmed that the services were now being transferred to other sites, while reassuring that the company was not scaling back its content review efforts.
Meta has invested billions and hired thousands of moderators worldwide to monitor sensitive content. However, in January, it eliminated its fact-checking program in the US after Donald Trump's election, announcing that it would no longer proactively scan for hate speech, instead relying on user reports.
Telus employees were placed on full-pay leave, but without tasks to perform, awaiting negotiations with the unions for severance packages, according to the email sent.
The Barcelona center suspended its operations at noon on Thursday and asked remaining employees to leave the premises, located in the iconic Glories tower in the city center.
The Barcelona team managed content moderation in several languages, including Catalan, Dutch, French, Portuguese, and Spanish, according to a former employee.
Other international moderation centers, such as those in Bulgaria, Colombia, and Portugal, previously collaborated with the Barcelona team, a current employee specified, although a Telus spokesperson indicated that some of these centers were managed by other companies.
