Irish-founded technology company Intercom has given its entire workforce a week off, encouraging staff to take a break in the middle of the pandemic.
The move is an acknowledgment of the additional stress workers have been under as large swathes of the global workforce have moved to working from home amid varying lockdown measures to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Intercom currently employs more than 600 people, of whom about 250 are in Dublin.
The bulk of staff are taking the week off, but the company said essential staff would be on hand to provide support for customers over the week, ensuring continuity of service. Those who are required to work this week will be given their time off at a different date.
Unusual
A spokesman for the company said Intercom was trying to encourage staff to take a break, something that hasn’t been happening during the lockdowns. It has previously given employees a week off in July, and also shuts its offices for a week over Christmas without requiring staff to use existing leave, something that is unusual in the US.
The company, which claims more than a billion end users, has developed a software platform which brings messaging products for sales, marketing and customer support together and allows companies to communicate with customers easily through their own websites, web and mobile apps, and by email.
Intercom has had some upheaval in recent months, with the company announcing earlier in June it was relocating 47 jobs in research and development and marketing to Dublin as part of a cost-cutting plan resulting from the Covid-19 crisis. It also confirmed it had cut 39 jobs in San Francisco.
Role
The company has just appointed a new chief executive with current chief operating officer Karen Peacock stepping into the role from July 1st. Ms Peacock will succeed co-founder Eoghan McCabe, who is to become chairman.
Intercom recently signed an 18-year lease on a new office on Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin, close to the National Concert Hall.
The company was founded by Mr McCabe, Des Traynor, Ciarán Lee and David Barrett in 2011 in Dublin. Intercom achieved so-called "unicorn status" two years ago when its valuation topped $1 billion (€890 million) after raising $125 million (€111 million) in investment.
