For the global community, the coronavirus pandemic presents a crisis of hitherto unseen proportions. “The coronavirus pandemic will leave an unprecedented impact on the global economy and our society,” said Dr. Reinhard Ploss, CEO of Infineon. “These difficult times might continue for quite a while. Infineon has been able to act and react in a fast, agile and comprehensive manner to maintain its operations in recent weeks, whether in the supply chain or manufacturing. We additionally took responsibility as part of the societies with which our company directly interacts.” Since the beginning of the outbreak, Infineon Technologies AG (FSE: IFX / OTCQX: IFNNY) and its regional entities have initiated or joined 22 initiatives totaling around €570,000 to mitigate consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and support people locally.
Infineon committed to 22 major global initiatives
In Malaysia, where Infineon runs its largest global site by far by the number of employees in Melaka, the company has donated the equivalent of €212,000 to build up digital infrastructure at hospitals and improve the working lives of frontline medical workers. As a result, doctors are able to consult patients without being physically present, which is crucial during a pandemic. Further efforts to help through digitalization were undertaken in Singapore, Austria and Hungary, where Infineon donated laptops or PCs to students as well as socially disadvantaged children and families – almost 200 IT devices.
Infineon India donated around €31,000 to the India Prime Minister’s CARE Fund to help beat Covid-19. In addition to this, it is contributing around €59,000 to fund startups working with leading research institutes in India on the development of ventilators, testing kits and power backup systems. In the U.S., as well as in China, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, Austria, Italy and Hungary, Infineon provided medical and protective equipment to directly mitigate the risk of an infection.
Focus on employees and business partners
To protect the health and safety of its employees and business partners, Infineon restricted all business travel as early as mid-March, while half of the global workforce switched over to working from home practically overnight. For the sake of also keeping its customers’ business stable, Infineon has been adapting demand and supply scenarios for future development on a daily basis within its well-established processes. Any interruptions to supply chains, such as fab closures and their consequences, have been monitored, and existing inventories and replenishments have been routed to locations with availability and flexibility. In addition, Infineon has been using its available safety and buffer stocks to meet demand. Finally, prioritizing demand has helped prevent production stops for customers. As a result of these and other measures, the company has served its customers with extraordinary reliability, especially in view of the distortions in global freight traffic.
Throughout this time, Infineon has also placed great emphasis on the well-being of its workforce. At all manufacturing and office locations where the physical presence of employees was indispensable, Infineon implemented significant precautions to help contain the spread of the coronavirus. In order to minimize the financial impact on employees, the company has not only fulfilled its legal and collective bargaining obligations, but also examined in all countries and regions where the best solution and potential benefits could be offered to employees in the given local circumstances.
Main Picture: Dr. Reinhard Ploss, CEO of Infineon
