We have always taken pride in having work location flexibility as one of our USPs at CACTUS. As we have grown, this culture has been practised successfully in all our offices and I have felt confident about our commitment and dedication to our craft regardless of where we work from. The COVID-19 outbreak and the unprecedented situation we are in has tested our preparedness and we have responded promptly by moving all our offices (1000+ people) to a work-from-home arrangement.
When we first started to work from home in some of our offices, social distancing was a recommendation, not a mandate. Now we have come to understand that irrespective of government mandates, it is important to do right for the community and embrace social distancing to “flatten the curve” (now recommended as the best approach to slow the spread of the virus) by staying or working from home. There are many organizations and institutions like healthcare and public/essential services that do not have the option of working from home and it’s up to us to reduce the burden on the civic infrastructure and the chances of further spread by staying at home.
While we work from home, it is difficult to not be disturbed by real-time media (and social media) reports of COVID-19 numbers increasing, people panic shopping, and rush mandates by various governments to shut down airports, malls, theatres, schools, and public gatherings. The result is stress, anxiety, and confusion. It is important that we take charge of our emotions during this time, not succumb to nor add to fear-mongering, and do our bit to ensure that the right information is spread among our friends, families, and communities.
As I reflect on the work CACTUS does, I realize that our role in the world today is even more important than before, in helping research see the light of day as soon as possible, helping research be discovered, and for the correct information reaching all stakeholders. All of us at CACTUS commit to play our role well and continue to support our customers during this time. In March, we started offering free editing, translation, artwork formatting, and research promotion services to people working on COVID-19 research and extended post-payment/credit options to researchers in China. We are also working on enabling conferences to go virtual. More recently, we launched covid19.researcher.life, the world’s largest AI-powered, expert-curated platform to unify researchers across disciplines in their fight against COVID-19. We will continue to extend our support to our customers in academia and the life sciences and collaborate closely with the research community.
I’d like to thank everyone at CACTUS for embracing work-from-home and for supporting each other in managing our mental and emotional health through compassion. I am moved by the many stories of gratitude and funny anecdotes of pets and children showing up on conference calls being shared on social media and the office intranet.
A big thank you goes to the HR team for anticipating the need to move to a work-from-home arrangement, and for the IT and Admin teams for working quickly for a smooth transition. On behalf of the senior leadership at CACTUS, I thank you all!
We are grateful that there have been no cases of COVID-19 among our employees or their families. I’m sure there is light at the end of this tunnel and we will get out of this together.
It is said that crisis brings people closer. While the situation around us evolves, I truly believe we will come together as one regardless of boundaries or work location and continue to build faith and hope in each other to overcome this situation.
Stay safe!
