Apple fires hundreds of workers hired to listen in on Siri
At least 300 Apple staff across Europe who were hired to listen in on Siri recordings to help detect errors have been laid off after the company announced the suspension of the programme.
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At the manufacturer's Cork facility in Ireland alone, over 300 workers have had their contracts terminated following the suspension, which was announced earlier during the same month, with more sites across Europe set to go through the same process.
The staff, who had been on paid leave since 2 August, reportedly often listened-in on Siri recordings containing users' confidential information and even of couples having sexual relationships.
Their work triggered widespread concern and criticism with even some of the former workers pleased that the practices had been uncovered.
According to the Guardian, one former employee said: “I’m relieved this information came out. Although I was involved in the work and I just lost my job. Discussions around ethics in this job was a constant between workers, but we don’t know how to bring it up.”
Nonetheless, the worker was very critical of how Apple handled the suspension of the programme, saying: “We’ve all been laid off after the scandal, with no protection against this. More than 300 at once just in Cork, with no redundancy, just one week’s notice.”