If You Build It, They Will Come

By Jaime Barclay, Sr Mgr Corporate Responsibility

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. A big part of this commitment is our annual 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. 

This is a 54 percent increase from 2017 efforts and we have more than doubled employee volunteer hours in just three years.

Check out our Global Service Week infographic for a look at GSW 2018 by the numbers.

Our impact, however, can be seen in more than just the numbers. In Mountain View, CA 200 third-graders in underserved schools will receive STEM kits built by Symantec volunteers. Birds in Dublin, Ireland and Culver City, CA whose homes had been destroyed by climate change and urban sprawl can now rebuild in one of the 50 nesting boxes our volunteers built. Waterways in Singapore and Tokyo are now cleaner as teams removed 100 pounds of litter and 124 bags of garbage respectively.

Our employees worldwide made an incredible impact in their communities. We built beehives and garden boxes, planted saplings and flowers, cleared trails and parks, and painted a school. We put together birthday boxes for foster youth, sorted and served food, and taught STEM concepts to girls.

"This event is life-changing for these girls” said Rosa Alvarado, the Girls Inc. program leader who attended the San Diego office’s volunteer event with her students. “Some of these girls have never seen adults doing this type of work, and don't know any women that work in the technology field. It inspires them that they can do something like this too."

Where we go from here.

We’re excited that more employees got involved in GSW this year and were thrilled to see a number of our executives volunteer. Eighteen percent of Symantec employees participated and we’d like to congratulate our Consumer Business Unit for having the highest participation rate as a business unit this year! Our goal is to increase participation across all business units year over year and to provide every employee with an opportunity to give back to their community.

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.