Statement on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Message from Marc Lautenbach, President and CEO

For 100-years Pitney Bowes has been guided by a core value of, “doing the right thing, the right way.” Never has it been more important to live by this principle as we respond to this unprecedented threat. Pitney Bowes is closely monitoring the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) at a global and local level for all business units. We are committed to doing the right thing for our employees, our clients and our partners during this time of uncertainty.

Our hearts go out to everyone who has been affected by this virus and we are grateful for the healthcare workers who are attending to the sick and working tirelessly to contain the spread. Under extremely adverse circumstances we are seeing the best in people as we unite to fight this global pandemic. The health, well-being, and safety of our employees, clients, partners and communities remain our highest priority.

We are continuously monitoring the impact of coronavirus and adhere to the recommendations from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organizations (WHO). For our part, we will continue to take the necessary and required steps to ensure our work environment and employees are safe and healthy. It's important to note that both the WHO and the CDC have advised that there is minimal risk of transmission of the virus from the handling of mail and packages.

Pitney Bowes and all our offices and operating centers remain open for business, but we are taking measures to reduce unnecessary exposure and population density. Our Business Continuity (BC) plans are designed to address various threats and vulnerabilities, including a response to the pandemic and high absenteeism. Strategies for responding to a pandemic are embedded within our BC plan and emergency response methodology.

We have detailed plans in place to protect our personnel and limit the spread of disease. All employees who can work from home are now doing so and meetings are being held virtually. We have suspended all client, partner and non-essential site visits to our facilities. A core team has been established to ensure the decisions we make are based on the most current information and with a focus on the well-being of each of our employees, our clients and our communities.

Despite enormous challenges the Pitney Bowes team is committed to seamlessly providing the service and support you depend on from us. We are taking the necessary steps to minimize disruption and handle potential interferences, adapting to a new way of doing business.

Our employees take pride in the work they do in helping businesses and powering commerce. The federal government’s Department of Homeland Security has designated what we do to be an essential service. As an “Essential Critical Infrastructure” provider, the sending of mail and packages is critical to our economy and we understand it’s vital to your business. Know that we are here to support your business, as we have for the last 100 years.

UPDATED March 16, 2020 11:00 am GMT.

What Pitney Bowes is Doing
Our Business Continuity (BC) plans are designed to address various threats and vulnerabilities, including a response to the pandemic and high absenteeism. Strategies for responding to a pandemic are embedded within our BC plan and emergency response methodology. We have detailed plans in place to protect our personnel and limit the spread of disease. We also monitor the CDC and the WHO to ensure our response is following their guidelines.

Here is an overview of our policies and procedures related to COVID-19:

Should there be an employee with COVID-19 symptoms, our business continuity plans will be enacted, which are robust and tailored to a specific site or situation.
We have reviewed and re-socialized our enterprise-wide response plan.
Travel for internal meetings has stopped and we have prohibited all non-essential business travel
The need to follow local authority guidelines and recommendations has been enforced.
Messaging around workplace hygiene, authoritative websites to monitor and sanitizing efforts for our sites has been communicated to employees.
Employees who are sick or have come in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, have been instructed to stay home and seek medical guidance.
We have suspended all site visits to our operating centers globally. This applies to clients, partners and Pitney Bowes employees not officially assigned to a facility as their normal work location.
Most of our sales and services teams are working remotely and equipped with the tools to handle the majority of your needs virtually. Where an onsite visit is essential, they will call ahead to adhere with your visitation policies and specifically for service calls they will not require a signature using iPads.

UPDATED March 13, 2020 12:00 pm EST.

The safety of our clients, employees and suppliers is a priority.

In response to the elevated risks of the COVID-19 virus, Pitney Bowes is monitoring the situation at a global and local level for all Pitney Bowes business units. We are following the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). We have instituted the following policies and procedures related to COVID-19.

Review and re-socializing of the enterprise-wide response plan.
Prohibit all business travel to those countries on the CDC and WHO watchlist.
Reinforce the need to follow local authorities’ guidelines and recommendations.
Outreach to employees with messaging around workplace hygiene, authoritative websites to monitor and sanitizing efforts for our sites.
Encourage employees who are sick to stay home.

Regarding the handling of mail/packages, both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have advised that the risk for transmission of the virus via packages is minimal.