At Farmers Insurance®, we like to say “we know a thing or two, because we’ve seen a thing or two” – but we certainly hadn’t seen COVID-19 before. As the novel coronavirus began to spread with unprecedented speed and severity, Farmers® recognized the need for decisive action to help protect the safety and well-being of our employees while continuing to serve customers.

Farmers closed offices nationally in March, seamlessly transitioning more than 19,000 employees to a virtual work environment within a one-week timeframe. In order to help support each of our colleagues through this challenging time, we offered a variety of resources applicable to a diverse population of individuals and their families:

• Farmers introduced a new COVID-19 hospitalization payment benefit for employees to help ease potential financial burdens in the event an employee or a member of their family must be hospitalized due to circumstances related to COVID-19.
• For employees experiencing financial challenges from COVID-19, we continue to offer support through the Farmers Family Fund, an employee hardship fund established eight years ago, to help families experiencing a loss of household income.
• Through the Farmers Employee Assistance Program, we launched a COVID-19 hotline, offered six free counseling sessions, and launched wellness-focused webinars and campaigns.
• Farmers provided all employees with a subscription to Headspace, a guided meditation app that also offers parenting resources and activities for children.
• Recognizing the need to communicate with transparency and frequency, Farmers has deployed robust employee communications during this time, including regular updates from the CEO, dedicated resources and a streaming series with tips for working from home, coping with stress and more.

Farmers conducted an all-employee “Pulse Survey” to gauge employee sentiment during this time, and received an overwhelming response with 95 percent saying they “feel supported by Farmers during this time.” We also see this reflected in employee satisfaction surveys, in which the organization achieved a record high score.

Anna Porcellino