Volunteering: together against corona

Janssen committed itself to contributing in a number of ways during the corona crisis: we worked on the development of a vaccine at our campus in Leiden, we produced disinfectant hand fluid at our production site in Geel, and we made laboratories available for corona testing at our campus in Beerse. Our employees give their best every day to ensure that our medicines and medical solutions reach the patients. This remains our core task and the way in which we as an organisation contribute to society. Furthermore, we wanted to give colleagues - whose home and work situation allowed it - the chance to help in their own way by means of our volunteer programme.

Volunteer work for employees with a medical background

A part of our staff has a medical background, which gave them a unique opportunity to support the overburdened healthcare sector. Parent company Johnson & Johnson (J&J), therefore, offered its medically trained personnel across the world the possibility of special leave. Thanks to this leave, employees could participate in voluntary work for a maximum of 14 weeks in the context of the COVID-19 crisis paid by J&J. Dimitri Waty, Sales Consultant at DePuy Synthes Companies in Diegem, was one of our colleagues that went the extra mile. As a qualified nurse, he voluntarily helped out in a #COVID-19 emergency room. Watch his testimonial here:

Volunteer work via the Red Cross

Through our partner the Red Cross, employees without a medical background could register for volunteer work. They could, among other things, support care centres and other care institutions in times of increased work pressure and staff absence due to illness. As crisis volunteers, our employees helped by taking on logistical and administrative tasks. In this way, they made a real difference for patients, residents and staff. Rachel Ghyselink, Clinical Support Specialist Biosense Webster (J&J), was one of them: “When I left the hospital, I had a smile on my face because I was able to help patients and doctors. I was proud to work for Biosense and J&J.” Watch her testimonial here:

#Beat the curve – Helping Hands

With this internal volunteer initiative our staff could help to relieve the workload in other departments. While some departments needed extra capacity, other departments had a lower workload. With this initiative, our staff could voluntarily help out in another department that could use extra support. Mario De Moor, Senior Product Specialist Janssen Benelux, told us why he helped out: “By supporting our Customer Service Center with handling a great number of questions, I have tried to help out within Janssen.”

Care days

As part of the Care Days program, all J&J employees are given the opportunity to volunteer for a charity one day a year. Given the exceptional COVID-19 circumstances, this programme was extended to a maximum of 3 days for those who could combine this with their work.

With these initiatives, we hope to make an important contribution to patients, healthcare providers and society, also during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

#togetheragainstcorona #proudofourcompany