Accenture pledges $25 mn towards pandemic relief for staff, communities

Firm has 24x7 telemedicine, care-at-home, higher insurance cover, virtual childcare, mental health support, and testing and vaccination infra for employees

IT major Accenture today made a fresh pledge of $25 million (Rs 185 crore) for pandemic relief efforts in addition to ongoing investments in its people and communities.

Rekha Menon, chairperson and senior MD at Accenture India, in a blog shared: “The local and global efforts already underway include providing ventilators, oxygen concentrators, and medical kits. We are providing Covid-19 support kits and PPE kits to frontline healthcare workers and providing food and Covid-19 at-home care kits to unemployed and poor people. We are also engaging with the government to support vaccination camps and provide local language call-center support. Additionally, we will be augmenting existing hospitals with beds and ICUs and setting up portable hospitals.”

She also wrote that to support more than 200,000 Accenture personnel and their families in India, the company has built several resources including 24x7 telemedicine, care-at-home services, enhanced insurance coverage, virtual childcare, mental health support, and support for testing and vaccinations.

“Across the globe our people have expressed their support and are getting involved. In addition to their time, they are also donating funds, and Accenture will match 100% of our people’s contributions for COVID-19 relief efforts,” said Menon in the blog.

In an earlier statement the company had said that it will also covering the cost of two-part vaccinations for its people and their dependents over the age of 18 who are part of our medical benefits programme. Accenture is also allowing its employees to avail four hours of paid time off for each dose of the Covid-19 vaccination. “We have introduced an additional leave benefit called the ‘Covid-19 Caregiver Leave’ of five days for our people  to take care of their family members who have tested positive for Covid-19,” said the company in a statement.