Facebook announced on March 17 two new initiatives to provide financial support to its employees and to small businesses around the world in an effort to mitigate some of the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
In an internal announcement, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees they would each receive a $1,000 bonus to support their now-remote work during the pandemic, The Information reports. Additionally, those workers will also reportedly automatically receive high ratings for their first six-month review of the year, potentially setting them up for even more sizable bonuses.
It is unclear whether these bonuses will go only to Facebook's 45,000 full-time employees, or if its thousands of external contractors are eligible as well.
Facebook also announced in a public blog post the launch of a program offering a total of $100 million in cash grants and ad credits for small businesses experiencing disruptions due to the virus. The grants will be allotted to up to 30,000 small businesses, spanning more than 30 countries, meaning each grant will amount to at least $3,333.