Coronavirus update: CEO message
ING is closely monitoring developments concerning the coronavirus pandemic, and is taking all necessary steps to ensure the wellbeing of employees and to prevent any potential business impact. Today ING updated its employees on further measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus and ensure business continuity. CEO Ralph Hamers sent out the following message to all ING employees:
Coronavirus outbreak: we will get through this together
Dear colleagues,
I know that we are all watching the development of the coronavirus pandemic with feelings of concern and uncertainty. We all – the ING family and the world in general – are in uncharted territory, and it is important that we remain calm, show solidarity and stand by each other in this difficult time.
To protect you and your families, our business, and the communities we live and work in, earlier today we announced that all of ING’s businesses globally will split operations. This means that as many colleagues as possible are asked to work from home. By doing so, we will live up to our social responsibility to prevent the virus spreading further, while ensuring the business continuity that supports and enables our customers and the economies we operate in.
I realise that working from home comes with some issues, from dealing with restricted access to some of the tools you rely on, to enforced isolation from your teammates. Please be reassured that the Management Board Banking and everyone else involved is doing everything we can to minimise the disruption to the way you work. If you have questions or need further instructions, please contact your local chief operating officer (COO), who also chairs your local crisis management team.
Even though most of you will now be distanced from your colleagues, please stay in touch with each other and offer each other the necessary support. We remain a close, orange family whether we are in the same office or not.
Kind regards,
Ralph