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Symantec makes a positive impact on the lives of its employees by promoting a culture of mutual trust, respect, personal achievement, and individual leadership.
The very nature of our business—assuring the security, availability, and integrity of our customers' information—inspires a global culture of responsibility. Our employees are guided by our code of conduct, which ensures that a focus on integrity is embedded in our daily interactions with our customers and each other, no matter where we are in the world.
Symantec defines diversity as all of the differences that make each of us a unique individual. Our ability to attract, retain, and fully engage diverse talents leads to enhanced innovation and creativity in our products. As such, we recognize that a continuing commitment to inclusive hiring practices is a business imperative tied directly to our bottom line.
Our recruiting success to date affords us the distinct competitive advantages of a first-class global workforce. With more than 17,000 employees at 200 sites in more than 40 countries, we are able to address the needs of businesses, governments, organizations, and consumers in all of the markets in which we do business.
Symantec has recently established a Global Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee composed of executives from across the company’s different divisions and locations. The purpose of this committee is to ensure that diversity awareness becomes embedded in the fabric of our organization. At the local level, employee volunteers participate in Site Diversity and Inclusion Councils, devoting their time and talents to help us achieve our diversity goals.
Diversity programs
We offer a variety of programs to teach our own employees how to conduct business successfully in a multicultural and multiethnic world. New employees receive diversity training as part of their orientation, and all employees have access to “Globe Smart”, an online tool designed to raise awareness of cultural differences among people around the world. The homepage of Symantec’s intranet includes a “Cultural Heritage Calendar”, and employees are encouraged to visit our internal diversity and inclusion website for easy access to information on diversity issues, outreach activities, and other resources.
Symantec is proud to support activities that increase access to educational and career opportunities for historically disadvantaged populations. We sponsor MentorNet, a nonprofit organization that partners math and science students with professionals in industry, government, and academia. We reach out to female students through “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” program.
Symantec Women’s Action Network
Symantec recognizes the unique challenges women face in the engineering field and is working to create an environment that allows them to thrive both personally and professionally. To that end, we have created the Symantec Women’s Action Network (SWAN). This initiative is designed to attract more talented women to all areas of our company and to support and encourage them to further their careers here at Symantec. Through SWAN, women now have a forum for personal and professional networking throughout all levels of the company, providing them with opportunities to build relationships and share information about how to make Symantec an even more rewarding place for women to work.
Symantec supports a variety of organizations that promote diversity and inclusion.
Symantec believes that in order to attract talented individuals who will be able to create the most innovative and effective products, we must support employees’ personal and professional development. Our robust employee development program offers a curriculum that is applied globally across all functions. The program enhances employees’ business, technical, and interpersonal skills and enables them to excel in their chosen career paths. We combine instructor-led and e-learning classes to ensure that our people can reach their maximum professional potential.
Work-Life Balance
Symantec has implemented various programs to provide employees with assistance in balancing work with personal and family obligations.
We offer paid leave to parents of newborns, adopted, and newly-placed foster children; we encourage fathers as well as mothers to take advantage of this benefit. Symantec has also established child/parenting support services through our Employee Assistance Program, including childcare referrals, free care kits for children, parents, and elders, an online interactive tool called Live and Work Well Here, and our Informed Health Line, which employees can call 24/7 to receive health information.
We believe that alternate schedules and telecommuting can be useful tools in managing the demands of work and home while enhancing employee productivity. We encourage employees to work with their managers to arrange personalized telecommuting options and flexible hours.
As part of our efforts to ensure a healthy work/life balance, Symantec participates in organizations such as the Silicon Valley Employers Forum. The Forum provides an opportunity for Symantec to share best practices with regional businesses and explore new ways of enhancing the quality of its work/life programs.
Symantec takes very seriously the health and safety of its employees. We have implemented a suite of programs designed to help employees to avoid unsafe situations and respond to accidents, disasters, and medical emergencies.
Global Injury and Illness Prevention Program
Symantec is in the second phase of implementation for the Global Injury and Illness Prevention Program. The program provides employees with information and training on office ergonomics, emergency preparedness, emergency communication, and security.
Symantec has further implemented a global emergency medical advisory, treatment, and security program for employees traveling abroad.
Emergency Response Teams
We have developed a network of onsite volunteer Emergency Response Teams (ERT) that have received extensively training in emergency medical and disaster response. Each team is prepared to respond immediately to medical incidents or accidents that may occur onsite. In addition, each Symantec location that has an onsite ERT has access to automatic external defibrillators to provide life-saving assistance to employees and visitors experiencing cardiac failure. More than 500 employees throughout North America, EMEA, and the Asia Pacific regions participate in the ERT program.
We strongly encourage our employees to volunteer in their local communities, both during and outside of work hours. In October 2006 we rolled out a new initiative called “Dollars for Doers”. Employees who volunteer with nonprofit organizations can have their hours matched with money paid by Symantec directly to the nonprofit, at the rate of $15 per hour up to a maximum of $1,000 per employee per year. We also promote volunteerism as a valuable component of departmental team-building.
We work with our community partners to create compelling volunteer opportunities. To suggest a volunteer opportunity, send an email message to community_relations@Symantec.com.
Symantec matches employees' charitable donations to eligible nonprofit organizations. Each year, the percentage of employees participating in Symantec's matching gift program continues to increase.
