Today people across the United States celebrate Veterans Day, honoring those who have served the country’s military, as well as the families who have supported them. In the US alone, there are 18.8 million veterans and 1.6 million female veterans[1] and over 400K businesses in the US are majority-owned by veterans.
At Symantec, we thank all military veterans and their families across the world for their service. We are happy today to highlight and honor people and programs across Symantec making a difference for veterans.
VETS Ambassadors at Symantec
At Symantec, our five employee resource groups (ERGs), including our Veteran Employees and Troop Support (VETS) group, play an important role in delivering on our diversity and inclusion strategies and help to foster innovation and support the growth of Symantec’s business. They help to build cultural awareness and a sense of belonging for our employees. Additionally, they serve as ambassadors to the broader community, volunteering and advocating on issues.
"Today and every day we have deep gratitude for all who have sacrificed to serve their countries. I am proud to lead our VETS employee resource group where Veterans across the world can come together to help each other and their colleagues excel at Symantec and continue to make our world a safer place."
– Tim Fitzgerald, Symantec Chief Security Officer and VETS ERG Executive Sponsor
If you are a veteran currently working at Symantec please email global_diversity@symantec.com to learn more about joining the VETS ERG leadership team.
Supporting Homeless Veterans in Downtown Boston
As part of Global Service Week, the Symantec Cambridge office sponsored and served a lunch at The New England Center for Homeless Veterans (NECHV), a national leader in housing. Located in Downtown Boston, NECHV supports Veterans with innovative services that enable success, meaningful employment, and dignified independent living.
Symantec sponsored the lunch service for over 80 veterans and employees helped serve the lunch on site. While on site, they also got a tour of the facility and had a chance to learn more about the mission, as well as the people who come there.
The feedback from the veterans and from our employees was overwhelmingly positive – the veterans were extremely appreciative of the lunch and employees were happy to give back to such a worthwhile cause.
“I am very grateful for the opportunity to have volunteered at the New England Center and Home for Veterans (NECHV). As I served food that Symantec donated, I witnessed the deep need among veterans in our community. Based on that experience, I plan to volunteer more with my family at NECHV, recognizing the value that these veterans contributed to me personally and to our nation,” said one Cambridge employee.
Others echoed those comments, sharing that “The folks at NECHV were so appreciative of us coming to help. Seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces, and how excited they were to tell us about what they have been working on, really made us want to come back.”
Symantec employees volunteer to serve lunch at The New England Center for Homeless Veterans in downtown Boston.
Symantec’s SC3 Helps Veterans Build Skills and Find Long-Term Careers
Additionally, our signature CSR program the Symantec Cyber Career Connection (SC3) provides a pathway for veterans to enter the cyber security field through targeted education, training and certifications that position them to fill in-demand cyber security jobs and enter long-term careers. To date, 24 of our SC3 graduates are veterans.
Inspiring Veterans at Symantec
Symantec’s Jackie Duncan recently wrote a piece on our #iamtech publication “You Don’t Have to Be a Techie to Work in Tech”. The piece explores Jackie experience from joining the Royal Airforce and becoming one of the first female Chinook helicopter pilots to her current role in EMEA sales operations at Symantec.
“While the military, railway and Symantec carry out different missions, they each focus on safety and security. And each runs like any organization, with people, systems and processes. If the organization has a purpose that fits you, and you can wrap your head around how it works, it won’t matter what industry you’re in. You’ll see your skills are transferrable.
Choosing a career is about understanding your skills, how you tick and finding a company that shares your values.”
We wish all Veterans in the US a happy Veterans Day and thank veterans across Symantec and the world for their service and contributions to keeping our world safe.