Better Than Their Competitors - Anonymous employee Appen Employee Review

* The work itself is very tedious. * Raters do not learn or utilize skills that are valuable to other employers. This job does not look good on a resume. * No opportunities for advancement * Have not seen any opportunities for full-time projects * The training and evaluation to qualify for this position is incredibly time-consuming, tedious, very project-specific and unpaid. * Appen does not consider reading their emails or reviewing task guidelines as billable time. This is illegal, as hourly employees in the US are not permitted to perform work tasks "off the clock". * My project has a maximum of 4 hours per day and a strict 19 production hours per week. This requires raters to work a minimum of 5 days a week and dramatically limits scheduling flexibility. * No training for new task types. Raters must try to figure out how to complete new tasks based on a quick read of the task guidelines. (Reading guidelines hurts a rater's productivity.) * No bonuses or other incentives, at least for my project * Productivity standards and subjective accuracy evaluations can be stressful. * No benefits aside from a small PTO accrual