Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce, has pledged that the cloud-based software giant will not impose significant layoffs in the next 90 days even as some companies have already started laying off millions of workers because of the coronavirus pandemic and unprecedented economic disruption.
“Salesforce is pledging to its workforce Ohana not to conduct any significant layoffs over the next 90 days,” Marc Benioff tweeted on Wednesday.
“We encourage our Ohana to pay their hourly workers like housekeepers & dog walkers,” added Benioff, using the Hawaiian word for “family,” a core element of the Salesforce’s workplace culture.
Benioff’s promises also apply to unpaid employees and hourly workers around the world will continue to receive salaries even if Salesforce facilities in the US and abroad remain largely closed.
Last week, the United States reported the largest week-to-week rise in unemployment, caused by decreases in travel and local business lockdowns to slow down the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Previously, Marc Benioff has also announced that Salesforce had donated $1 million to UCSF’s Covid-19 Respond Fund and $500 thousand to the CDC Foundation’s Emergency Response Fund while reconciling employee contributions to aid other organizations.
The CEO of Salesforce urged CEOs to take a 90-day “no-layoff pledge” as part of an eight-point plan to end the coronavirus crisis.
Benioff has been vocal on social and political issues for years, touting his belief that business is the greatest platform for change at this difficult time of the coronavirus crisis. He suggested a plan that consists of basic protective measures for both private and government companies. The first step is staying at home for 20 days for every person.
San Francisco, Benioff’s hometown and Salesforce headquarters, was one of the first US cities to issue a shelter-in-place order that encourages mandatory homework for everyone and closes all unnecessary businesses that depend on physical location.
Benioff’s next steps focus on addressing the medical and safety concerns caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Hospitals around the world are currently facing a shortage of masks and other protective equipment such as gloves that are needed by medical professionals to keep themselves healthy as they are treating the novel coronavirus patients.
Benioff urged governments and businesses to build a supply-chain management system for protective equipment and to increase the production of therapeutic drugs while maintaining a database of patient responses. The federal government must issue treatment guidelines, Benioff said.
Moreover, Benioff mentioned accelerating the development of COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccines usually take years but many organizations work as quickly as possible to stop the spread of the disease. According to the World Health Organization, there are currently around 40 coronavirus vaccines developed.
Benioff wrote about testing as well. Test everyone, he said, including people who may have already done it.
After these steps are completed, Benioff recommended the release of workers who have not shown symptoms and develop a way to keep testing frontline workers, such as doctors, nurses, and delivery drivers. He also urged all CEOs to “take a 90 day ‘no lay off’ pledge.”
In his final step, Benioff’s asked for showing compassion to everyone and taking care of mental and physical health during the uncertain times of the coronavirus crisis.