As a way to help employees amid the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, Facebook announced it would give each of its 45,000 full-time workers a $1,000 bonus.
The Information first reported that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement via an internal company memo on Tuesday, March 17. Zuckerberg also told workers that alongside the cash bonus, they would also each get an “exceeds” rating for their six-month 2020 review, meaning a further bonus down the road.
While the move is generous, The Information also reports that the average compensation for a salaried Facebook employee is about $228,651 a year. Facebook’s content moderators, who are hired on as contractors, will still reportedly be paid during their time away from the company’s offices right now, but it’s unclear if they will receive these same bonuses.
Digital Trends reached out to Facebook to find out if contract workers are included in the bonuses and to seek comment further on the company’s decision. We will update this story when we hear back.
Facebook is also contributing money to help support coronavirus relief efforts and pledged to match up to $20 million in donations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation and to various detection and prevention efforts.
The company also announced it is helping small business owners during this time of social distancing by investing $100 million in small businesses. Facebook said it would give financial support to 30,000 small businesses in 30 countries in the form of cash grants, as well as free ad credits.
The coronavirus outbreak has already had a significant impact on the company. The social media giant was one of the first big companies in the U.S. to shutter its offices because of the coronavirus. Earlier this month, Facebook’s Seattle office closed down after a contractor tested positive for the coronavirus.
Facebook was also forced to cancel its F8 developer conference that was scheduled to take place in late April or early May.
The latest coronavirus outbreak has steadily grown since December 2019. At the time of this writing, 190,120 people have been infected and there have been over 7,500 deaths. The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus a pandemic, with countries around the globe struggling to deal with the impacts of the crisis.
