The CRM and cloud technology giant Salesforce joined many other multinationals in extending work-from-home option for employees until at least August 2021. SFDC joins dozens of multinationals in implementing a series of measures to help employees, especially working parents, manage the economic and logistical challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. (Updated List of companies announcing permanent or long-term work-from-home plans)
Brent Hyder, Chief People Officer announced the move in a recent blog post (Deepening Support for Employees with Expanded Benefits). A few key points from the announcement:
- To ensure that employees have what they need to continue working from home, they are offering $250 for office tools and equipment – in addition to the $250 provided earlier in the year.
- To deepen our support for working parents the company expanded family care leave, making parents eligible for six weeks of paid time off.
- In June, the company increased its global back-up childcare offerings through the summer so employees can get reimbursed up to $100 per day for 5 days each month. They extended that through the end of January 2021.
- In all situations where schools have been closed and students are learning remotely, parents and guardians will be allowed to work from home, even if that date extends beyond our offices re-opening.
Last month, Google implemented a similar work-from-home extension, telling most of its employees they could choose to remain away from their offices through the summer of 2021.
This trend is likely to continue. According to according to Kate Lister in a recent NPR interview “Going into a recession, an economic downturn, those CEOs are laying awake at night thinking of all those buildings that they’re heating … productivity is continuing without being at the office. And saying, ‘Wow, I think we could use for a change here.’ ”