Like many other companies, Harbinger’s India operations have been bearing the brunt of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic. We recently polled a significant population of Harbinger employees on their experience of the pandemic. The results are illuminating.
88% percent employees have experienced Covid-19 up close – either they themselves were infected, or a close person was. In the last month, 61% employees have had to hospitalize someone in their family for Covid. A whopping 68% have lost someone they knew quite well.
How does this trauma affect them? Nearly half of them say – Overall I feel safe – but every now and then I worry. 59% report that their stress levels feel higher than normal.
Yet, when asked to describe their emotions, a majority of them project positive emotions – grateful, glad to be safe, compassionate, and want to help those suffering. Even those who have had a brush with Covid are bouncing back and rearing to go. They say that the company mission is on track, and the goals we have set hold good. Most importantly, Team Harbinger’s customer satisfaction numbers have remained good throughout the pandemic’s first wave. There is mutual support among employees to maintain that stellar record in the second wave.
Although social and broadcast media paint a picture of what is happening – part true, part exaggerated, part attenuated, you cannot always use that lens to learn what is going on in a specific workforce in a specific industry. That is why it was so critical to get a glimmer of how the Harbinger employee population is coping firsthand.
Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a great outpouring of empathy and concern from customers for Harbinger employees. We are grateful for that. A big thank you on behalf of Team Harbinger to our customers, partners, employee families, and well-wishers. We are here for you. The times are tough, but this too shall pass.
