"I had lost my hour grace period to reject the job by the time I'd reached the sensitive content, so if I'd sent the job back I'd be at risk of losing my job with Rev," she said. On top of that, she did not see any trigger warning or label before the sensitive content. The contractor from Ireland said for all the labor - emotional and physical - that she put into transcribing the interview about the child sex crime she got paid $0.48 US per minute of audio. Contractors said that Rev lacked transparency about pay cuts and the company's customer service did little to help their situation. In addition, some of Rev's independent contractors said they felt that the company had exploited their work only to give them pay lower than what the company advertised. With so many contractors competing for high-quality audio, they say there are really only seconds to decide which assignments to take. They highlighted a strictly enforced "grace period" of one hour to pass on projects. They described a situation where, to carry out the quick turnarounds, contractors on Rev face cutthroat competition for good-quality audio and lose sleep to make the tight deadlines. Business Insider confirmed their identities.
Many spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of losing work or facing legal action. Yet freelancers say pay is one of several grievances they have with the company.īusiness Insider spoke with 15 current and former contractors for Rev to discuss their experiences working for the site.
Rev later responded to the thread by stating it did cut pay by 33% for the easiest jobs, but raised prices for harder jobs. She'd heard about Rev on Reddit in 2017.Ī recent Twitter thread about a pay cut at Rev, which brought base pay for contractors down to $0.30 per minute of audio, sparked outrage. The Irish contractor for example said she joined the platform because she needed extra money to pay for her rent and public transportation.
REV TRANSCRIPTION DRIVERS
The human intelligence in that claim comes in the form of the transcriptionists, all of whom are contract labor, just like Uber drivers and Facebook content moderators. As a value-proposition statement reads on Crunchbase, "Rev combines human and artificial intelligence to deliver the largest and most popular voice-to-text service in the world."
REV TRANSCRIPTION SERIES
Rev raised a $4.5 million Series A round of funding in 2012 at a $15 million valuation from investors including Capital Factory and Globespan Capital Partners, according to Pitchbook, and now has 140 employees in-house.
REV TRANSCRIPTION PC
In 2018 PC Magazine named it the fastest and most accurate transcription service. The site promises a 12-hour turnaround for $1 per minute of good-quality audio. Rev.com launched its transcription service in 2011 as a platform connecting workers and clients, which includes professionals, students, and journalists, including those at Business Insider. "It was incredibly tough to transcribe but the audio was clear so I wanted to keep it, because clear audio is so rare in Rev," the contractor, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of losing her job, told Business Insider. When she finally found a quality file, she soon realized it was an interview with a child sex-crime victim. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.įor a Rev contractor from Ireland, the opportunity to transcribe clear audio was a rare one.The treatment of contract workers for tech companies has gained an additional level of urgency after reports of Facebook contract workers' exposure to traumatic content.Rev.com has raised $5 million from investors including Capital Factory and Globespan Capital Partners and counts journalists, students, and other professionals as clients.
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