Airbnb has been hit particularly hard due to COVID-19, but that doesn’t stop them from working hard to help others. The company began issuing refunds with no questions asked. On top of that, Airbnb has pledged to house 100,000 healthcare and essential workers if they have to isolate themselves away from their families. This is done totally free of charge.
Unfortunately, Airbnb had to let go of several employees. To help these people find jobs, they set up a Talent Directory. There, employers can search for potential employees around the world based on their job title. It also allows you to filter by those who are open to relocation or open to working remotely.
As people were forced to work from home, many were faced with the fact they aren’t equipped to do so. Ally Financial didn’t want that to be an issue. The financial company sent most of their workforce home with the equipment they needed to set up an adequate office, including internet hardware.
Ally Financial didn’t stop there. It decided to cover 100% diagnostic testing related to COVID-19, expand childcare and adult-care support, provide access to free mental health programs, and to provide paid caregiver leave for employees who need to care for an ill family member. Ally seriously went above and beyond.
In a world where we can’t gather, work and education must continue. How can we do that without restrictions? That’s where Zoom stepped in. Zoom has supported employees throughout this crisis by allowing them to work from home and giving them supplies needed to do so. They also provide telehealth visits and mental health assistance.
Zoom is also helping others. It immediately responded by offering free tools necessary for schools to continue educating students K-12. On top of that, Zoom has worked around the clock to keep their platform working as it should so we can all communicate to one another without issues – that’s a feat easier said than done as millions of people use it daily.
Facebook has stepped up in a big way to help those who use the platform as well as employees. To help users, Facebook has pledged to decrease the amount of misinformation. Facebook partnered with 60 fact-checking companies in more than 50 languages to remove false information that’s floating around their platform.
For employees, Facebook decided to waive performance reviews for the first half of the year (although that may be extended). Naturally, those who can work from home are told to do so. Employees will also get a $1,000 bonus and a secondary bonus of $2,000 for childcare.
Everyone knows that the restaurant industry is one of the hardest hit during this crisis. Well, GrubHub wanted to help them as well as their employees. This food delivery company was one of the first to protect drivers and customers by implementing contact-free delivery. GrubHub also created a community relief fund, which goes to drivers that are impacted by the coronavirus.
For restaurants, GrubHub suspended fees for independent restaurants while encouraging them to use their platform to connect with customers. They’re also supporting independent restaurants through an economic relief fund in an attempt to keep them afloat while the industry is down.
One of the biggest hits to the economy was retail stores shutting down. Governors didn’t want to risk stores staying open and spreading the virus around. Because of this, online sales ramped up, but some companies didn’t want to risk their employees at all. Patagonia is one of those.
Patagonia has continued to pay its employees despite the fact that their stores have been shut down. In addition to this, they’ve also shut down the online store and shipment facilities. This allows those who work for the business to shelter in place while the virus is at its worst.
Coca-Cola may have reigned supreme for a while, but this year, PepsiCo is the shining star. Pepsi vowed to pay all quarantined employees 100% of their pay, while also providing enhanced benefits to all United States-based workers. This includes anyone who makes, moves, or sells any PepsiCo products (which is a pretty wide range of items).
Pepsi also announced a $100 increase per week for full-time employees, which is approximately 90,000 people. To help with the strain put on increased demand and lower staffing, Pepsi also hired 6,000 new, full-time employees across the United States that would start with full benefits.
Truist Bank was created after SunTrust and BB&T merged. For a company that just merged, it’s surprising that they’re doing so much to help employees. The company is providing time off for childcare (for children whose schools were closed) and childcare reimbursement up to $2,000 or 20 days.
Truist is also encouraging employees to donate money to help fellow coworkers. For every $1 they give, Truist has promised to match that donation by $4 in an attempt to help people recover from unexpected events.
Cisco has made a huge statement. The CEO Check Robbins told his staff that they wouldn’t be laying off their employees. He also told other companies to do the same if they can financially absorb the losses. The employees that are able to work from home are doing so, as well.
Cisco is also helping customers and other businesses by investing $2.5 billion in financing to companies that need help keeping things rolling. Furthermore, 95% of customer payments can be deferred on new products until 2021.
Starbucks is one of the few fast-food places to shut down during this pandemic, but they weren’t always going to shut down. First, employees were allowed to take two weeks off while also receiving their paycheck. Not long after that, all stores were shut down to protect employees.
At the same time, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson came out to say that employees would receive their full pay for 30 days. Considering the employer has over 191,000 workers, that’s pretty substantial. Starbucks has also offered free mental health assistance through Lyra health, free of charge.
