In the middle of uncertainty due to worldwide outbreak of Corona Virus, some IT companies are giving benefits and allowance to their staff.
IT companies which enable collaboration and virtualization are doing well in the Black Spring scenario of Covid. Many companies are using Zoom Platform, so the valuation of Zoom is increasing and they are happy to share the revenue with their employees. Many companies have started using Citrix Platform extensively due to which the Citrix support and dev team are working round the clock.
This is a good gesture by Citrix. This is the Summary of the email sent to Citrix Employees
Expanding support for our teams
First, the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and I want to address more directly and holistically some of the challenges this situation has caused.
For example, we know that many of you who were not used to working from home normally may not have the set up you need for more sustained, productive work. In other cases, this situation has required people to take on additional workloads that should be recognized and rewarded. And for all of us, it has been painful to see our communities suffer and local businesses, such as restaurants, come under economic strain.
With all of that in mind, every full-time Citrix employee below the VP level will receive a one-time bonus equivalent to $1,000 USD to be paid in April and subject to regular income taxes.
This money is yours to spend however you like, but it is intended for:
- Work from home support items, such as monitors, keyboards, headsets, surge protectors, ergonomic desks and chairs, additional wi-fi, etc.
- Unexpected personal and family expenses
- Helping our communities and local businesses in ways such as donations to local charities, purchasing food delivery from local restaurants, etc.
And to ensure that you are supported if you need to take any time off because you are personally affected by COVID-19, we are also extending our pay continuation support through May 31, 2020.
As we previously shared, any employee will receive 100% of your base pay if:
- You become ill due to COVID-19
- Your children or family members become ill due to COVID-19 and require your care
- Your manager says your job cannot be performed at home, and you therefore cannot work
- You have children or family members at home due to COVID-19-related social distancing requirements, such as school closures or stay-at-home orders, and are unable to find an alternate caregiver and fully work
In addition, we will formally notify our vendors who employ our temps/3Ps that we will continue payments under our existing contracts through May 31 so that they can continue to pay our temps/3Ps as well during this same time period.
If you need to take time off or a leave from work for any of these COVID-19 related issues — or feel that you need some other additional support or accommodation — please share your situation with AskHR or your manager, so that we can appropriately support you.
Expanding our support for our communities
In addition, we recognize how fortunate we are as an organization. We are in a privileged place where we can help others, and we want to pay that forward.
As such, the ELT and I have increased by $4 million our normal annual corporate citizenship budget so that we can give more substantial monetary donations to those most in need in the communities in which we live and work as a response to the COVID-19 crisis.
We are working with our corporate citizenship team to define a targeted strategy for these additional funds, and we will share an update on how we plan to donate the money within the next few weeks.
Extending work from home through May 1
Based on the ongoing recommendations from global health authorities and governments, we are extending our global work-from-home mandate from Friday, April 17 to at least Friday, May 1, 2020.
We will continue to share extensions, if they are needed, at least a week in advance of the guidance date. The HR team is working diligently on our approach to returning to our offices, and we will share those plans when the time comes. Our top priority for returning to our offices is your health and safety, so we want to take a holistic approach to these plans under the guidance of medical professionals and health authorities.
As mentioned above, many companies are doing their bit to contribute to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
- The companies in food and beverage sector have converted their kitchen to community kitchen and serving the needy
- Alcohol companies have started making hand sanitizer instead of beer and Whisky
- Cab companies are helping in the logistic of essential services
Other IT companies have made a Covid Leave Policy and changed their Work From Home policy.
Stay Strong.This too shall pass.