How We Are Optimizing for Health and Safety
Over the past 18 months, our team has listened closely to the CDC, learned from our employees, and exercised flexibility when adapting to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. At every step, we’ve adhered to one clear and consistent guiding principle: optimizing for the health and safety of our employees takes precedence above all else.
This philosophy means that we have been — and will remain — deliberate in our approach. In April of 2020, when most companies were announcing short-term shut-downs, we closed our offices until at least July of 2021. Then, we made the decision to permanently transition to a virtual-first model coupled with in-person events.
Just a few weeks ago, we were excitedly planning to host in-person team-building events at the end of August. But the landscape shifted with the onset of the Delta variant, requiring agility once again as we continue to track the virus’s trajectory, CDC recommendations, and local community guidelines to determine when it is safe to gather.
Putting the health, safety, and peace of mind of our employees first, motivated us to implement a vaccination policy for employees attending Thumbtack organized events or working in our libraries — local workspaces in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Manila and Toronto. Here’s an update on how we’re supporting our global team.
Safety First: Proof of vaccination will be required for all in-person gatherings, such as using our libraries or joining our events. Once in-person events have resumed, we will also implement frequent and comprehensive testing protocols. We are utilizing Workday, our HR Information System, to safely and securely collect and verify proof of vaccination.
Optional Attendance: Because we understand that everyone has different personal considerations and varying levels of risk tolerance, all in-person gatherings are optional for the foreseeable future. Working from a library will always be optional and employees can currently choose whether to attend social gatherings and Thumbtack-sponsored events in-person or virtually. Next year, as health and safety concerns improve, we will re-evaluate whether team and company events continue to be optional.
Response Plan: We are building a data-driven framework to help us decide when it is safe to gather in groups of varying sizes. But we also know that we cannot quantify how employees feel and the fact that all of us — from family to family, state to state, and country to country — face a different set of considerations and risks. We expect to continually update these guidelines based on COVID-19’s trajectory, CDC guidance and as we take the pulse of our employees’ personal situations through surveys and focus groups.
We hope these guidelines provide clarity and comfort. We will continue to be transparent about changes and updates as we navigate the coming months.
