Get your FREE 30-day trial.
Please complete all fields.
May 29, 2020
Another month in quarantine comes to a close and cities are slowly starting to reopen. Step by step, we’re seeing the economy starting to come back to life.
We have now taken the next step of our own journey and have begun the process of reopening our offices in Asia. You can read more about the steps we took to do that here.
Reopening is top of mind for our customers too. In a very short time, Work.com, our technology to help companies reopen safely, has garnered significant interest from businesses and governments at every level. Many of our top system integrators and technology partners are also building their own solutions on Work.com. In fact, this week we announced a new partnership with Workday. Now, businesses will be able to synchronize critical worker data to foster collaboration, drive smart decisions quickly, and communicate to their workers.
Unfortunately, we know this crisis continues to be particularly difficult for small businesses and we want to continue to provide for them. Last month we announced our Salesforce Care for Small Business grants, and this week we introduced the Canadian Business Resilience Network Small Business Relief Fund. It will provide more than 60 small Canadian businesses with $10,000 grants to help their recovery efforts.
We’ve learned from this crisis, just as we have every time we’ve been faced with major challenges. We’ve seen how agility and a beginner’s mindset has enabled the world to quickly pivot and take action. And as we watch our own communities take the first steps in what we know will be a long journey, it is a hopeful sign that we are moving in the right direction.
You can learn more about precautionary measures we’re taking in our previous posts seen below:
****
May 21, 2020
Last week, we talked about the global dialogue around COVID-19 shifting to reopening and the challenges that lie ahead for many businesses and organizations focused on doing so safely. Our customers are making mission-critical decisions that affect patients, customers and employees. That’s why we launched Work.com, and this week rolled out new technology that brings critical COVID-19 data together to guide safe return-to-work strategies and emergency response projects. You can read more about that here.
At the same time we’re helping our customers reopen safely, we’re also focused on helping individuals in our communities affected by job loss upskill, reskill and get back to work.
This week, we announced we’ve established a pilot program to create a trusted network of skills-based profiles for nurses that will enable healthcare providers to find the right people with the right credentials, and candidates to find the right jobs quickly — something that is required now more than ever.
And while the long term effects of COVID-19 on unemployment remain to be seen, we know our nation's veteran community is experiencing immediate impact at unprecedented rates. More than 1 million veterans filed for jobless benefits last month. So we are partnering with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes (HOH) and contributing a $1 million to fund a Salesforce Military Fellowship Program that will provide work to veterans and military spouses.
Finally, we want to make sure that when ready, our employees have what they need to be successful to return to the office. Many parents face the taxing challenge of having to homeschool their kids and with that in mind, Salesforce is one of the inaugural signatories of the Invest in Parents pledge. The pledge commits to protecting the wellbeing of working parents by raising awareness, providing flexible work options and increasing access to resources.
We know there is still much to be done as we continue to chart a course to our true new normal. We’re committed to offering our customers a strategic pathway, helping our communities get back on their feet and continuing to care for our employees and their families.
You can learn more about precautionary measures we’re taking in our previous posts seen below:
****
May 14, 2020
Last week we talked about the three distinct phases of this crisis: 1) The crisis response; 2) recovery and reopening; and 3) the new normal and a return to growth. As we begin to enter the second phase, the global dialogue around COVID-19 has shifted to reopening, how to get the economy going and how to do it safely. Every company, every organization has to reimagine their workplace, and many don’t know where to begin.
For us, the timing of when we bring employees back into our offices will be unique to each office—we’ll make those decisions on a city-by-city basis, in a way that's consistent with local government guidelines and in line with the advice of our medical experts.
Regardless of whether their local office has reopened, Salesforce employees will have the option of continuing to work from home until the end of the year.
For businesses and organizations navigating similar critical decisions, we created Work.com, a hub of new technology, expert perspectives, and insights, to help companies and organizations reopen safely. And in just a week since it launched we have heard from companies and governments at every level seeking to learn more about it. We’ll continue to innovate around Work.com as we learn from our own efforts and those of our customers.
Guided by our cultures and values, we'll continue to work together to reopen our businesses and restart the economy safely on our way to a better future.
****
May 8, 2020
A lot has changed during this pandemic, but there are certain things that have not: our core values of trust, customer success, innovation and equality. Putting those values into action during this time has been more important than ever and they continue to guide each decision we make.
In the weeks since COVID-19 upended communities and business, we have come to view this crisis in three distinct phases: 1) The crisis response; 2) recovery and reopening; and 3) the new normal and a return to growth. In each phase, we’re focused on three things: the health and safety of our employees, helping our customers navigate this crisis and supporting our communities.
To help our customers, partners and communities as some around the world begin to enter the second phase, we launched Work.com this week. It’s a hub of new technology, expert advice, and insights, to help companies and organizations reopen, putting employee and visitor health and safety first. You can learn more about Work.com here.
At Salesforce we expect a phased return, carefully looking at each of our locations to determine when it will be safe to bring employees and visitors back to the workplace. To that end, we are focused on six guiding principles that leaders should consider when reopening. And, of course, we’ll be deploying our Work.com solutions to support the reopening of our 160 locations around the world.
Finally, we continue to find ways to help those disproportionately affected by COVID-19. For #GivingTuesdayNow, Salesforce launched the Equality Group Matching Challenge to encourage employees to support marginalized groups. And in just a matter of days, our employees have raised nearly $300K for nonprofits supporting underrepresented communities.
This week was also Teacher Appreciation Week. To honor teachers, we announced $640,000 in matching funds to DonorsChoose. The funds will be directed toward Distance Learning Projects across the Bay Area and Hawaii, providing school supplies, food, and hygiene essentials students need while learning from home.
I’m moved by the compassion, resilience and adaptability I see every day as we deal with this virus. We are all stakeholders in the outcome of this crisis. I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together as we navigate this second phase on our way to a new normal.
****
May 1, 2020
COVID-19 has impacted every aspect of life: how we live, how we work, and how we interact with one another. We will continue to prioritize the safety and wellbeing of our families and communities but also look ahead as we carve out a new path.
With millions of jobs lost due to the impact of COVID-19, we’re doubling down on our commitment to the communities in which we work and live. We’re finding ways to provide support for those disproportionately affected, help job-seekers reskill and as always, protect those keeping us safe and healthy.
This week, we teamed up with chef Jose Andres and are matching donations of up to $250,000 to World Central Kitchen. WCK has already served more than 3 million meals to vulnerable communities and frontline healthcare workers in over 155 cities in more than 25 states and territories. And, we made a $500,000 donation to the COVID-19 Relief Fund created by Black Entertainment Television and United Way Worldwide. The funds will be disbursed to local charities that provide food and emergency assistance to families who have been severely affected.
Since March, we’ve seen an increase in sign-ups for Trailhead, our free online learning platform. We’ve also produced new live and on-demand Trailhead Live content on topics like mindfulness, and staying at home. Tableau, which we acquired last year, is addressing the reskilling imperative by expanding its digital training and eLearning programs to offer a new training series for the COVID-19 Data Hub, as well as a 3-month free subscription to Tableau’s eLearning platform. So far, more than 100,000 people have launched an eLearning course, spending nearly 300,000 hours engaging with the content.
Our team sourcing personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers continues to do incredible work. In partnership with the Daily Mail newspaper, we delivered a plane-load of surgical masks and coveralls to the U.K.‘s National Health System (NHS). To date, we’ve helped deliver PPE to over 193 healthcare facilities across 10 states and sourced more than 50 million units for hospital systems in the U.S., U.K., France, and India through our partnership with UCSF, our healthcare system here in San Francisco.
And finally, this week we introduced the AI Economist, a new line of research that studies how to improve economic design using artificial intelligence with the goal of optimizing productivity and social equality for everyone. While this effort was started well before COVID-19, it is especially relevant now as economists work to get our economy back on track.
We know the road ahead is long, but with continued collaboration, a healthy dose of compassion, and perseverance we will get through this.
You can learn more about precautionary measures we’re taking in our previous posts seen below:
****
April 29, 2020
At Salesforce, our events have always been a special opportunity for us to come together with our global community to share best practices and innovations.
As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, our first priority is to help ensure the health and safety of our customers, partners, employees and communities. With this in mind, we have decided to reimagine our events through the end of the year in new and virtual ways. This will be true for all events, including Dreamforce, Tableau Conference 2020, Tableau Conference Europe, TrailheaDX India and our World Tours.
As we’ve done with other events, we’ll continue to create innovative digital experiences for our ecosystem. For example, we turned our World Tour Sydney into a virtual event in March, taking what is typically an 11,000-person event into one viewed by 80,000 people. We're looking forward to building on that success over the coming months.
We will miss bringing everyone together in person, but we are excited to shape our virtual events in ways that bring all of the fun, innovation, and learning to our dedicated community of Trailblazers.
Visit our FAQ for more details on Dreamforce.
****
April 24, 2020
It’s hard to think of a moment in recent history that has brought the world together on a singular path quite like the COVID-19 pandemic. But each day, we get more familiar with our “new normal” and continue to find ways to help all of our stakeholders, including the communities, businesses and people most affected.
In partnership with UCSF, we’ve distributed personal protective equipment (PPE) to over 65 hospitals across 10 states over the last month. This week’s shipments included 40,000 surgical masks and 30,000 gowns that went to the Navajo, Hopi and Pueblo tribes throughout Arizona and New Mexico, who have been in desperate need of PPE. To date, we have sourced 50 million units of PPE for healthcare workers and first responders in the U.S., India and France.
We continue to see our customers and partners pivot to new ways of doing business and give back to their communities. Just three weeks since it launched, Salesforce Care solutions are now being deployed by more than 6,000 businesses and organizations around the globe. You can read more about how customers, such as the Everton Football Club, Syneos Health and AAA Carolinas, are using these rapid response solutions to stay connected to their customers, here.
We know this has been an especially challenging time for startups, but many of our Salesforce Ventures portfolio companies are doing what they can to respond and support the recovery. For example, Loop & Tie Founder and CEO Sara Rodell and other technology leaders are providing tablets to hospitals across the U.S. to connect critically ill COVID-19 patients with family members. And you can read more about how the next generation of technology companies are giving back, here.
Finally, I want to take a brief moment to reflect on Earth Day. Despite quarantines and lockdowns, many found ways to celebrate this week by planting trees, donating or taking their activism efforts virtual. It’s another example of how our collective energy can be channeled for good, no matter the circumstances. And much the same way we are pulling together to address the COVID crisis, I have renewed hope we’ll continue to do the same for our planet.
****
April 17, 2020
As we reflect on the past few weeks, we are incredibly humbled watching the ways our world has come together — from companies pledging to not layoff workers, to communities coming together to provide meals for healthcare workers, to neighbors delivering groceries to one another. Every good deed helps in times like these.
Our CEO Marc Benioff recently explained the roadmap of this crisis in three phases: responding to the pandemic, recovery and adapting to a “new normal.” While we still believe we’re in the first phase, we’re planning for the second by thoughtfully developing our return to work strategy as well as looking ahead to the third.
As always, we remain focused on our response to our employees, our customers, partners and communities.
In an effort to continue mitigating the spread of COVID-19, our employees in most locations around the globe will be working from home until at least early June. We know this isn’t always easy. Several weeks ago, we created the B-Well Together mental wellness program for our employees. This week, we opened it to the public so everyone has the opportunity to hear from incredible scientists, humanitarians, artists and leaders.
We see encouraging signs that our customers are adapting and positioning themselves for a future of renewed strength. Salesforce Care has now been activated in more than 5,000 customer sites globally. And this week, we rolled out Salesforce Care for Commerce Communications. It empowers retailers to quickly launch crisis response sites to give customers, suppliers and partners the latest information and resources. More examples of how are customers are responding to the pandemic can be found here.
And finally, we’re continuing to work hard to support our communities. This week, with help from Walmart and State Farm, our teams delivered much-needed personal protective equipment (PPE) to healthcare workers in Michigan and Louisiana. To date, we’ve sourced 50 million units of PPE for hospitals in the U.S., France and India. And Tableau announced they’re offering their eLearning program free for 90 days to help workers learn new data skills.
So while the world navigates our new daily realities, we are optimistic about phase three, “our new normal.” Once we get there, we believe it will usher in new ways of working and taking care of ourselves and each other; new kinds of products; new policies and protocols; and a path forward for workers whose jobs have been affected by the pandemic. Until then, we continue to do our part and are grateful for the many good deeds of others.
****
April 10, 2020
This week the world recognized World Health Day, applauding the heroic efforts of our healthcare workers and first responders on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis.
At Salesforce, we’re supporting a collective effort to get our healthcare professionals the critical personal protection equipment (PPE) they need. To date, we have sourced 50 million units of PPE including masks, gowns, suits, and face shields, for hospitals in the U.S., India, and France. And we will continue to work, in alignment with the priorities and efforts of government emergency management agencies, to protect those protecting us.
At the same time, we remain laser focused on helping our customers around the globe navigate through this crisis. In just two short weeks, 3,500 organizations have deployed our free Salesforce Care solutions — nearly double from last week. And more than 1,600 of these organizations are small businesses. You can read about how we are helping The State of Rhode Island to mitigate COVID-19 here.
Speaking of small businesses, this is an especially difficult time for them. That’s why this week we announced Salesforce Care Small Business Grants to provide resources for the businesses at the heart of our communities.
Finally, this week, we announced we’re expanding our support for those affected by donating $1.5 million to organizations like the Italian Red Cross, Madrid Food Bank, and New York COVID-19 Emergency Fund. The funds will support mitigation and direct relief for vulnerable populations.
These times remind us we’re more connected than ever. We continue to look forward, to find ways to help, to look for hope and are humbled by those who have committed to doing the same.
You can learn more about precautionary measures we’re taking in our previous posts seen below:
****
April 3, 2020
The global effect of COVID-19 continues to evolve and we want to provide an update on how we’re bringing the full power of Salesforce to bear to keep our employees and their families healthy and safe, support our communities, and help our customers and partners navigate this crisis:
First and foremost, we remain committed to flattening the curve. Earlier this week, aligned with various local and national government guidelines, we extended our office closures in North America, EMEA, APAC and LATAM to early May.
We know working from home can be challenging for our employees and their families. We continue to deliver resources to help our employees navigate this challenging time. We also announced this week we’ll provide technology and content for WideOpenSchool.org, a new free online resource from Common Sense Media that will support families and educators transitioning to remote learning as a result of COVID-19.
We launched free Salesforce Care solutions last week that are already being used by nearly 2,000 companies and organizations in 47 countries. And we’re seeing increased engagement with the Tableau COVID-19 Data Hub as well as Trailhead content and AppExchange solutions designed to address COVID-19. You can read more about all of this here.
Our immense gratitude is with healthcare workers and first responders on the frontlines of this crisis. And we remain grateful for the commitment, resilience, empathy and compassion shown by our employees, customers, partners and communities.
****
March 27, 2020
Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by the COVID-19 virus — particularly those who are sick, and their families. As the pandemic persists, we continue to monitor it around the clock and want to provide an update on the latest steps we’ve taken to care for our employees, customers, partners and our communities.
All Salesforce offices in North America, EMEA, APAC and LATAM remain closed, and our employees are working from home. We continue to pay our vendor hourly service providers during this time.
Our top priority remains the physical and mental health of our employees and their families. A recent internal survey showed that 36% are reporting mental health issues during this stressful time. We’re offering virtual workouts and meditations led by mindfulness teacher Jack Kornfield and the Plum Village Monastics. And we’ve been fortunate to have speakers including Thrive Global Founder and CEO Arianna Huffington, Dr. David Agus, MD, and UCSF psychiatrist Dr. Kim Norman, MD join us to discuss how to manage anxiety and help our children and families through this difficult time. Finally, we’re thankful we can commit to not doing any significant layoffs for the next 90 days.
We are also making some of our technology available for free for a period of time to help our customers and partners navigate through the crisis. This week, we launched Salesforce Care rapid response solutions to help companies stay connected to their employees, customers and communities. This is in addition to making Quip Starter available to any business and providing access to Health Cloud for healthcare systems experiencing an influx of COVID-19 requests. And governments and organizations around the world are using Tableau’s COVID-19 data hub to see and understand data about the pandemic.
Finally, we continue to support our local communities at the local, national and global levels.
To date, we’ve donated $3 million to UCSF’s COVID-19 Response Fund, the CDC Foundation's Emergency Response Fund and San Francisco’s Give2SF Fund. As always, we’re matching employee donations to eligible organizations.
This week, we contributed medical masks to the UCSF hospital system in San Francisco, the Telangana State Medical Services and Infrastructure Corporation in Hyderabad and SOS Médecins in Paris. In Israel, we donated to Magen David Adom to support its emergency response to the virus. And we are working hard across all of our resources and relationships to deliver additional masks and critical personal protective equipment to hospitals and medical professionals.
We'll continue to provide further updates. In the meantime, we each have a role to play in upholding our civic duty to lessen the risk for everyone. If we each do our part, we can save lives.
****
March 16, 2020
All of our employees around the globe have been strongly encouraged to work from home. Given the escalation of local governments’ guidance within some of our communities, we are moving to a "hard close" of our offices in North America and EMEA through at least April 15. And we will continue to pay our vendor hourly service providers, who are an important part of our family.
****
March 15, 2020
We are now strongly encouraging all employees across Argentina, Australia, India, Mexico, and New Zealand to work remotely. We’ve made this decision based on guidance from local leaders and governments and in service to protecting our employees, their families and our communities. During this time, we will continue to pay our vendor hourly service providers, who are an important part of our family.
****
March 14, 2020
To support the community in which Salesforce is headquartered, the company will donate $1.5M to the City of San Francisco’s Give2SF fund to support its emergency response to the coronavirus crisis.
And in an open letter to Governor Gavin Newsom, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff joined 170 California business leaders to respectfully request that the State of California offer free drive-thru or walk-up COVID-19 testing in every county within 48 hours.
****
March 13, 2020
At Salesforce, Connections has always been a special event for us to share the latest marketing, commerce and service innovations and come together with the Trailblazer community.
But as the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, we recognize our responsibility to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, employees and communities above all else. After careful consideration, we’ve decided there will be no physical event for Connections and we will instead reimagine the conference as a virtual experience that will deliver a full program of inspiring sessions and educational content. We are disappointed to miss seeing everyone in Chicago, but we know this is the right path forward for the community.
Salesforce.org’s Higher Ed Summit as well as Salesforce World Tours and Basecamps in April will also be replaced with new virtual experiences. World Tour Toronto and World Tour London will be postponed to later in the year.
****
March 12, 2020
We are strongly encouraging all employees across the United States, Canada, as well as Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) to work remotely, including all European countries, the United Kingdom, Israel, and Morocco. We’ve made this decision based on guidance from local leaders and governments, and in service to protecting our employees, their families and our communities. During this time, we will continue to pay our vendor hourly service providers, who are an important part of our family.
****
March 11, 2020
Salesforce Chair and Chief Executive Officer Marc Benioff details Salesforce's latest efforts to help those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak here.
****
March 8, 2020
Along with our employees based in Washington State and California, we are strongly encouraging all employees across New York State to work remotely for the month of March. We’ve made this decision out of an abundance of caution and in service to protecting our employees, their families and our communities. During this time, we will continue to pay our vendor hourly service providers, who are an important part of our family.
****
March 7, 2020
Along with our employees in Washington State, we are strongly encouraging all employees across California to work remotely for the month of March. We’ve made this decision out of an abundance of caution and in service to protecting our employees, their families and our communities. During this time, we will continue to pay our vendor hourly service providers, who are an important part of our family.
****
March 4, 2020
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread, we have a heightened awareness at Salesforce of our responsibility to our employees, customers, and partners. This includes doing our part to to help prevent further outbreaks.
Out of an abundance of caution and aligned with King County recommendations, we are encouraging all Salesforce and Tableau employees based in our Seattle, Kirkland, and Bellevue offices to work remotely for the month of March.
You can learn more about the other precautionary measures we’re taking here.
****
March 2, 2020
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread around the world, we have a heightened awareness at Salesforce of our responsibility to our employees, customers, and partners during this important time. Each one of us has a role to play in preparing ourselves and our families for potential disruptions, and upholding our civic duty to help prevent further outbreaks. If we each do our part, we can help lessen the risk for everyone. We can save lives.
While this is a developing situation, we are implementing initial safety precautions for the month of March, including prohibiting cross border travel, restricting all but the most critical domestic travel, replacing our in-person customer events with digital experiences, and enhancing our office protocols to ensure we provide the healthiest work environment possible. We are monitoring the situation around the clock and will continue to update our approach as information becomes available from the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control, and local authorities.
Certainly these steps are designed to protect our employees, customers, and partners, but we also know that the steps we collectively take are helping our society. We’ve asked our employees to stay home if they are experiencing symptoms of illness of any kind and we are encouraging everyone to get a flu shot. These preparations are important on an individual level but they can also have an impact on our society, such as our elderly neighbors, our hospital caretakers, and those who lack the resources or time to prepare themselves, all of whom may be counting on us during this time.
We'll provide further updates here as things evolve. In the meantime, thank you for doing your part to ensure the safety and wellbeing of you and those around you.
