JINHA

ISTANBUL – Workers and activists have started a social media campaign for hundreds of workers laid off by Russian search engine giant Yandex.

Around 80% of Turkey-based Yandex workers received an email on April 1—just before International Workers' Day—informing them that they had been fired. The workers' piecework price had previously been reduced from 0.1 Euro per piece to $0.10. Then, the price for the work went down again, to $0.08.

Yandex is the 4th largest search engine worldwide, controlling a large share of the market in Russia and Turkey, among other countries. The nearly 600 workers laid off have started a signature campaign calling on Yandex management in Russia calling for the reinstatement of the hundreds of fired workers.

The company has been tight-lipped on exactly how many workers it let go that day, say workers, who had to learn the extent of the firings by contacting one another on social media. The workers called attention to a speed-up over the last six months, which they had all struggled to keep up with.

"Even though we were well above the most recent numbers, in one day we were all left without jobs," said the campaign statement.

(fk/cm)