Update on COVID-19 (May 14, 2020)

Below is a message that I shared today with our Pearson colleagues around the world. I wanted to share it with our wider community, too.

Dear colleagues,

As you know, we have been following closely public health recommendations concerning the outbreak and spread of the novel coronavirus, Covid-19. I continue to be very proud of, and deeply grateful for, the way in which we are all taking care of our colleagues, our customers and our local communities. Our individual, and collective, health and wellbeing remain our primary concern.

Most countries are now making progress in managing the spread of the virus. The global scientific and medical community is also making progress on three key fronts – scaling up reliable testing (both to test those who have the virus and those who have developed immunity to it), developing therapeutics to treat effectively those who are suffering from it, and a vaccine aimed at preventing infection. But it is likely to be some time yet before we see a major breakthrough, especially in terms of a vaccine. This means that we are now moving from an initial period of emergency response to what is likely to be a longer period of containment and slow, potentially uncertain, recovery. Individual countries – and sometimes states or cities within countries – will be moving from “emergency” to “recovery” phase in their own fashion, easing “lockdown” policies in different ways and at varying speeds. Everybody will be monitoring the rate of transmission continuously and adjusting their policies accordingly. So, this feels like the right time to provide an update on how we plan to run the company in this next phase.

As we operate in seventy countries around the world – often in multiple locations – we will continue to fully support our leadership teams in each country and each location so that, working with local public health authorities, they are always able to act in the best interests of our colleagues and our customers. As they do so, taking the actions that are most appropriate at the time for a specific location, they will be following some company-wide principles.

No third party or Pearson events. All Pearson-organised events and gatherings remain banned at this stage and colleagues should not attend events, such as conferences, organised by third parties.

No international business travel. The company-wide ban on international travel that we implemented on March 13 remains in place.

Very restricted domestic business travel. We continue to discourage domestic business travel as much as we possibly can. Any trip will require prior approval from your manager and will only be given in exceptional circumstances. Colleagues may, over the next few weeks, be able to start to travel locally to visit customers if they are comfortable doing so, but only, of course, if local authorities are permitting it – and customers are supportive of the visit. All visits will need to be compliant with social distancing and other public health requirements. As far as possible, we should continue to engage with, and support, our customers virtually, rather than in person.

The ongoing, phased return for those of us in roles which require us to attend a specific location will continue. Some of us have roles – such as test or language centre administrators or staff in operational and logistics roles (like printing/scanning and distribution) – where working from home is not an option. We are hugely grateful to those colleagues who have been continuing to work throughout the pandemic. Over the last few weeks, more of these activities have started to resume, as we’ve implemented safe working practices (such as social distancing and appropriate protective equipment for staff) and subject to the advice of local public health authorities. We’ve been working and planning hard to redesign these working spaces to operate safely and will continue a phased reopening around the world, as local circumstances permit.

Colleagues who are office based should continue to work from home. This is likely to be the case for some time yet – although, in some locations, we will begin allowing office access to colleagues who need to have it. For most of us, returning to the office is not yet an option and is, in any case, not necessary. The company has run more smoothly – with over 90% of us working from home – than we could have imagined it would at the start of the pandemic. We are planning on the basis that we are likely to be working primarily, if not exclusively, from home for some months to come. However, as lockdowns ease around the world, access to the office will start to be an option in some of our locations. As it does, we will be sensitive to the fact that colleagues, depending on their personal circumstances, will have differing needs. Some of us (for example, if we’re working in cramped conditions at home) may want or need access to the office sooner. Other colleagues, with childcare responsibilities or public transport challenges, may need to work from home for longer. Whilst we will be primarily working from home, some of us may wish to make an occasional visit to the office – to align with colleagues on specific projects or to meet with our teams and relieve the stress of working from home.

Decisions about whether and when to allow office access will be made on a location-by-location basis, by local leaders working in tandem across business units and enabling functions. You will hear from them directly. Colleagues will only be able to access the office if we believe it is safe to do so, taking account of both local guidelines and our own assessment. In the office, there will be strict enforcement of social distancing, with office space redesigned as appropriate, additional and deeper cleaning, no services (such as canteens and cafeterias) and additional measures, such as the careful phasing and timetabling of office hours. We will likely schedule teams to be in the office at different times or on different days, to enable social distancing and make travelling by public transport more manageable. I want to stress that, in enabling access to the office, managers will be sensitive to the personal situations of our colleagues.

These continue to be, of course, unusual and troubling times. We will continue to review and, as necessary, update these company-wide principles as things progress. How we apply these principles will vary by country and location, depending on the advice of the public health authorities and local leadership. In tandem with this company-wide note, you’ll be hearing from your local leadership updating on your specific location.

Please continue to take care of your colleagues, your customers, your communities and your family and friends. If you have any specific concerns or comments, please let your local leadership know – or you can comment on my Neo post of this message or contact me directly.

Thanks, as ever, for all that you do each day for our company, and the learners we serve.

With very best wishes,

John