Employee volunteer hours soar during Symantec’s third annual Global Service Week
Symantec employees across the world recently participated in Global Service Week (GSW), a time to join together to improve the communities where we live and work. During this full week of service, Symantec employees are encouraged to commit to at least one hour of community service with a nonprofit or charitable project of their choice.
This year, the third annual GSW, our employees have much to be proud of. Beginning October 14, more than 2,100 employees logged 9,579 volunteer hours at 138 team events across 19 countries in just one week.
In Ireland, 156 Symantec employees volunteered a total of 1021 hours – an average of 6.5 hours per person! We were thrilled to see so many of our Ireland employees get involved; 29 percent of our employee base in Ireland participated.
Symantec Ireland volunteers supported 27 different charities and community groups, including Focus Ireland, Food Cloud, Ash Animal Rescue, St. Francis Hospice, An Taisce/Bird Watch Ireland, Dogs for the Disabled, Ronald McDonald House, and Solar Buddy, making an incredible impact in their communities.
On the morning of October 17, 2018, 57 Symantec employees from Dublin worked with two different nonprofit organizations — An Taisce’s Clean Coasts and BirdWatch Ireland. While working with Clean Coasts, an organization that engages communities in the protection of Ireland’s beaches, seas and marine life, the volunteers removed 55 bags worth of litter and plastics from the beaches of and water surrounding Bull Island (pictured above). Additionally, the volunteers helped catalogue the debris to make sure that the source of pollution could be identified.
“Thank you for volunteering for a Corporate Volunteering Day with An Taisce’s Clean Coasts,” said Aiden Gray of Clean Coasts. “Your assistance has made a tangible difference to the health of our ocean.”
Symantec Ireland volunteers also built 40 nesting boxes for birds whose homes had been destroyed by climate change and urban sprawl (pictured above). Of the 40 boxes, five were installed on Bull Island the day of the event. The rest were distributed by BirdWatch Ireland, the largest independent conservation organization in Ireland. “Thank you so much for all of your work,” said Andrew Lynch of BirdWatch Ireland. “We really appreciate it and the boxes will be perfect for our East Coast Nature Reserve.”
At Symantec, we know that corporate responsibility is not only the right thing to do, it is directly linked to employee retention, productivity, and overall engagement. A recent study conducted by Glassdoor found that 75 percent of employees and job seekers expect their employer to support the communities in which they do business through donations and/or volunteer efforts.
We work hard to attract and retain talented employees and we’re committed to building a culture that enables our people to apply their time and talents to the issues they care most deeply about. Global Service Week is one of the many ways we are working to meet our goal to reach an average of four volunteer hours per employee by 2020.
We promote nonprofit board service, plan quarterly volunteer events at our largest offices, and encourage employees to volunteer year round. Symantec supports these efforts financially with our Dollars for Doers program, donating $15 for every hour of volunteer service that an employee contributes, up to $1,000 per year.
We will continue to bring together our people, their passions, and powerful technology and will work each day to create a secure and sustainable future.
