Jalon Hall, a black, deaf employee and the first of her kind hired by Google, has filed a lawsuit against the tech giant, alleging racial and disability discrimination. Ms Hall accuses Google of failing to live up to its promises of inclusivity despite celebrating her as a diversity success story.

According to Wired, Ms Hall’s lawsuit paints a contrasting picture between Google’s public image and its internal practices. While Google touted Ms Hall on social media and corporate events as an example of their inclusive work environment, the lawsuit claims she faced a hostile work environment filled with racial bias.

Ms Hall alleges that after initial promises of sign language interpreter support, Google restricted access to interpreters after assigning her to a role focused on reviewing content for YouTube’s child safety regulations. The lawsuit states that managers refused interpreters due to confidentiality concerns, despite established ethical codes for sign language interpreters.

This lack of accommodations left Ms Hall struggling to meet performance expectations. Unable to understand the video content efficiently without an interpreter, Ms Hall reportedly reviewed far fewer videos than the expected quota. This resulted in slow career progression compared to her peers.

“I felt humiliated, realising that I would not grow in my career,” Ms Hall told Wired.

Furthermore, the lawsuit details an instance where a manager referred to Ms Hall as an “aggressive black deaf woman” and suggested she take on a sales role instead. Additionally, Hall claims she was excluded from discussions and passed over for promotions due to “inaccurate evaluations.”

While Google has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on procedural grounds, they haven’t addressed the specific accusations. Ms Hall, however, is determined to see change.

“Google is using me to make them look inclusive for the Deaf community and the overall disability community,” Ms Hall told Wired. “In reality, they need to do better.”

Ms Hall’s case sheds light on the underrepresentation of black and disabled employees at Google, which is a company with nearly 183,000 workers.

Black women, specifically, have a higher departure rate than women of other races. Google’s deaf and hard-of-hearing employee group reportedly consists of only 40 members, company data showed last year.

Ms Hall’s lawsuit seeks not only personal compensation but also systemic changes. She demands reinforcement policies to ensure future hires with disabilities receive proper accommodation and equal opportunities.

In September 2023, 25% of the respondents said their income levels had improved compared to a year ago — the highest for any September after 2018.

A relatively high share of urban consumers entered the 2023 festival season with more confidence than seven years ago. The conclusion is based on the September 2023 edition of the Reserve Bank of India’s Consumer Confidence Survey.

The survey gathers the present views of households in relation to the previous year, focusing on the general economic climate, employment conditions, price trends, and individual income and expenditures across 19 key cities. The most recent iteration of this survey took place from September 2 to 11, 2023, with 6,077 participants; 50.3% of them were female respondents. 

In September 2023, the start of the festival season in India, 36% of the respondents said the general economic situation had improved compared to a year ago — the highest for any September after 2016. While confidence in the economy is at a seven-year high, levels of pessimism about the economy are at a six-year low. In September 2023, only 44% said that the economic situation had worsened compared to a year ago — the lowest for any September after 2017. However, those who felt the economy worsened continued to be more than those who felt it had improved. 

Chart 1 | The chart plots respondents’ views on the general economic situation for every September since 2012.

Chart appears incomplete? Click to remove AMP mode

In September 2023, 34% said their employment opportunities had improved compared to a year ago — the highest for any September after 2018. Pessimism about job opportunities was also low. In September 2023, 44% said their employment levels had worsened compared to a year ago — the lowest for any September after 2017. However, more respondents continued to report that their employment opportunities had worsened than those who said it had improved. 

Chart 2 | The chart plots respondents’ views on employment opportunities every September since 2012. 

In September 2023, 25% of the respondents said their income levels had improved compared to a year ago — the highest for any September after 2018. Pessimism about income levels was also low. In September 2023, 25% also said their income levels had worsened compared to a year ago — the lowest for any September after 2018. 

Chart 3 | The chart plots respondents’ views on income levels for every September since 2012.

In September 2023, 91% of the respondents said the price levels of commodities had increased compared to a year ago. For the third consecutive September, the share of such respondents persists above the 90% mark.

Chart 4 | The chart plots respondents’ views on price levels of commodities for every September since 2012. 

In September 2023, 74% said their spending levels had increased compared to a year ago — the highest for any September after 2018. For the second consecutive September, the share of such respondents persists above the 70% mark.

Chart 5 | The chart plots respondents’ views on spending levels for every September since 2012. 

In summary, a higher share of people entered the festival season this year with more confidence about the economy, their job opportunities and income levels than before. A high share of them continue to feel that the price level of commodities is higher than a year ago. A high share of them also spent more this September than in previous years.

Click to subscribe to our Data newsletter

According to the RBI’s observations, prospects also look bright. “Households remain highly optimistic on future earnings even though their sentiment on current earnings remained around its July 2023 level.” The general economic forecast, along with the outlook for employment, income, and spending, is anticipated to be better. Additionally, the Future Expectations Index (FEI) hit its highest level in four years in the most recent survey, the RBI observed.

Source: Reserve Bank of India’s Consumer Confidence Survey

Also read | Data | With pandemic blues gone, people are painting the town red

Listen to our podcast |How Turkey’s economic and political trajectory compares to India | Data Point podcast

New Delhi:

 The economy has added around 5.2 crore new formal jobs between FY20 and FY23, with the net addition being 2.7 crore, according to a report based on an analysis of the EPFO, NPS and ESIC data.

The government has since April 2018 releasing monthly payroll data from the Employees Provident Fund Organisation or EPFO, the National Pension Scheme or NPS and the Employees State Insurance Corporation or the ESIC, based on the recommendations given by Ghosh & Ghosh report.

The EPFO payroll data trends for the past four years show that net new EPF subscriber addition during FY20-23 was 4.86 crore, which consists of new payroll (first payroll), second payroll (rejoined/resubscribed members) and formalised payrolls. Accordingly, the net new payroll (first job/fresh job) adjusted for re-joined/re-subscribed members and formalisation (based on ECR data), shows that the actual net new payroll was 2.27 crore during FY20-23, SBI Research said in a report Tuesday.

Of this, the first jobs were 47 per cent of the total net new payroll addition and the second jobs (the exited members who re-joined and re-subscribed) stood at 2.17 crore during these four years. This means that the net increase in formalisation was at 42 lakh in these years, said the report penned by group chief economic advisor to the SBI Soumyakanti Ghosh.

If the Q1 EPFO payroll data of FY24 looked at the trend, it is encouraging as 44 lakh net new EPF subscribers joined, of which the first payroll was 19.2 lakh. If the trend continues for the rest of FY24, then the net new payroll will cross the 160 lakh mark, which will be the highest ever with the first payroll in the range of 70-80 lakh.

NPS data indicate that 8.24 lakh new subscribers in FY23, of which state government payrolls stood at 4.64 lakh, followed by non-government jobs of 2.30 lakh and 1.29 in the central government.

During the past four years, around 31 lakh new subscribers joined the NPS. That means, cumulatively, total payroll generation of the EPFO and NPS was more than 5.2 crore during FY20-23, Ghosh said.

The report also notes a significant decline in revision of the number of members who have rejoined or resubscribed in the first quarter of the current financial year. This would mean more people may be deciding to stick to their current employment. Additionally, the share of women’s payroll was around 27 per cent.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

In Telangana, there is a stark difference in socio-economic indicators between the districts around Hyderabad, the capital, and those far away from it. This is the fourth story in a series of Data Points exploring the inter-district differences in the southern States. The district-wise variations in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka were discussed earlier.

Given that the State of Telangana was formed barely a decade ago and the frequency of data across many indicators is poor, it is tough to provide time-series comparisons to show how the State has grown. But in general, Telangana was neither at the top nor at the bottom of the health, education and environment-related parameters analysed across States.

An analysis of district-wise data shows that development is limited to certain pockets of Telangana. 

Chart 1 | The chart shows the per capita income at current prices for 2020-21. 

Charts appear incomplete? Click to remove AMP mode

The top seven districts on this indicator (other than Hyderabad) were Rangareddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Medak, Mahabubnagar, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, and Siddipet. Notably, all these districts are located next to Hyderabad or just one district away from it. However, peripheral districts such as Wanaparthy, Jogulamba Gadwal, Narayanpet, Kumuram Bheem Asifabad, and those that are far from the capital but not in the periphery, such as Mahabubabad, Jagtial, and Hanumakonda, featured at the bottom of the per capita income list. Vikarabad is an exception. It is relatively close to Hyderabad but has the lowest per capita income in Telangana.

Chart 2 | The chart shows the share of women aged 20-24 years who married as teenagers. 

While more than 35% of women married as teenagers in the peripheral districts of Khammam and Jogulamba Gadwal, about 10% of such women were in Hyderabad and Medchal-Malkajgiri.

Click to subscribe to our Data newsletter

Chart 3 | The chart shows the share of children under five years who were underweight in 2019-21. 

Over 50% of children, the highest in the State, were underweight in Adilabad, the northernmost district. In contrast, Hyderabad and Medchal-Malkajgiri had 25% or less of underweight children.

Chart 4 | The chart shows the share of households with improved sanitation in 2019-21. 

Less than 65% of households had access to improved sanitation in the three peripheral districts in the north — Adilabad, Kumuram Bheem Asifabad, and Nirmal, which featured at the bottom of the list. In contrast, Hyderabad and two nearby districts — Siddipet and Medchal-Malkajgiri — were among the top five districts where more than 84% of the households had access.

Chart 5 | The chart shows the number of government hospital beds available per lakh population in a district as of 2020-21. 

Nirmal, Narayanpet, and Kumuram Bheem Asifabad featured among the bottom five, while Hyderabad, Rangareddy, and Mahabubnagar featured among the top five.

Chart 6 | The chart shows the number of people employed in factories per one lakh population as of 2018-19. 

Contract workers were not included. Among the top seven districts, except Nizamabad which leads other districts by a wide margin on this indicator, the rest were located around the capital district.

Chart 7 | The chart shows the number of employees working at MSMEs per one lakh population as of 2020-21. 

Among the top seven districts, except Karimnagar which leads other districts by a wide margin, and Suryapet, the rest were located around the capital district.

Chart 8 | The chart shows the Gross Enrolment Ratio at the high school level (2021-22). The top three districts were Rangareddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri, and Hyderabad.

vignesh.r@thehindu.co.in and rebecca.varghese@thehindu.co.in

Lathika V. is interning with The Hindu Data Team

Source: National Family Health Survey, Telengana State Statistical Abstract, and Telengana Socio-Economic Outlook 2023

Also read |Growth model of Telangana is an idea whose time has come: KTR

Listen to our data point podcast: How Turkey’s economic and political trajectory compares to India