Starting with its most valuable asset, the group has adopted extensive measures to ensure the safety of its employees and their families. Through its recently launched “Protect Our People” initiative, the Company will ship masks directly to the home of any employee who needs them. A comprehensive work from home strategy has allowed employees to work both comfortably and productively from their homes.
In an effort to preserve the workforce and minimize the impact of the crisis on employees, Luxottica is taking several initiatives in all geographies while hundreds of its managers across the globe are taking part in a voluntary pay cut initiative, following the example set by the company’s CEO Francesco Milleri, as we already announced.
In the facilities that remain open to provide essential wholesale services, including factories and distribution centers, Luxottica has implemented heightened cleaning protocols, provided temperature checks for employees entering the building and offered masks and gloves to employees who feel more comfortable wearing them. To meet social distance requirements, workers sit at least one meter away from one another and eat in scheduled shifts to reduce exposure.
Because these facilities are able to remain open, in addition to Luxottica’s optical retail stores and ecommerce platforms, the company is able to provide essential eye care services and products to customers, many of whom are on the front lines, including hospital and healthcare workers. The company has received hundreds of emails from customers expressing their appreciation for our service in this period, giving Luxottica employees a renewed sense of solidarity and purpose.
Luxottica also remains close to its customers in a difficult time like this. Its newly redesigned Luxottica University platform offers access to dedicated learning paths, including rich content ranging from sharpening your digital skills to enhancing the shopping experience. While a return to normalcy may be several weeks or months away, acquiring new skills and knowledge can strengthen our customers in time for a comeback.
The company continues to serve as a pillar in the communities where it operates. At a time when protective equipment is in dangerously short supply, Luxottica is providing hundreds of thousands of disposable face masks to hospitals, public institutions and partners in regions where it has a large presence. The company is also donating approximately 15,000 pairs of protective eyewear and goggles to emergency responders in the U.S. and Italy.
In Italy, where the group was born, the Chairman himself wanted to do his part. Through the Leonardo Del Vecchio Foundation, 10 million euros have been donated to Lombardia, the most affected region in the country, to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, thirty hospital ventilators have been given to the local communities of Lombardia, Veneto, Trentino, Piemonte, Abruzzo and Puglia, where to our Chairman and our Company have roots.
A sign of resilience and pride, for the past few weeks, the colors of the Italian flag have illuminated the facade of Luxottica’s main plant in Agordo and its headquarters in Milan.