Barco

Since the start of the corona virus outbreak in January in China, Barco has set up a global response team that is monitoring the situation on a daily basis. The covid response team is still in place and finetunes the new way of working when and where needed. In addition, a track-and-trace system has been put in place to slow down a possible future spread of the virus. For now, Barco is pleased to report that its global workforce has essentially been spared from serious covid health issues, except for a very limited number of infections (of which the source was never located within the Barco office walls). 

The hybrid office

Some of Barco’s offices have only been closed to a limited extent and are now gradually reopening and bringing back employees to the workplace. With the implementation of an expanded and alternate home-work protocol for its white collars, the company is steadily unlocking measures while still taking into account local or regional regulations and recommendations. All offices have been updated according to the strengthened social distancing and sanitary measures to ensure a covid-proof and flexible work environment. The new hybrid way of working has been welcomed by Barco’s employees, ensuring the connection with the mothership and enabling the “open for business” mindset.

Protecting business health

As the economic impact of covid-19 is starting to become clearer, Barco remains focused on business continuity and protection of the business health. Barco is keeping its global production facilities operational, while also aligning the activity level for the upcoming months June, July and August with the market realities and changing customer demands. 

Consequently, the company has prolonged the temporary work arrangements and economic unemployment measures for both white and blue collars, in conformity with country specific legal frameworks, support mechanisms and regulations. The new work conditions vary depending on the region, and Barco’s covid-19 response team is reviewing the situation site by site, again with the same objective to ensure business continuity while also considering all applicable covid regulations.

The activity rate and cost containment measures also include

• ensuring a strong commitment to our customers through sales and servicing 
• making deliberate choices on the continuation of development projects based on current needs in the market
• adjusting internal support levels in function of the focus shift
• investing in temporary redeployment to compensate workload changes

These renewed measures – which can be adjusted again in line with future changes in the pandemic situation - also entail shifts in the planned investment patterns on selected long-term initiatives and a sustained strict discipline on discretionary spending.

The covid virus has heavily impacted the economic sector, but Barco is convinced that through the implementation of these measures and a continuous reevaluation of the market, it can secure the company’s future in the long term. With a continued focus to perform, a stable financial backbone and organizational agility, Barco’s global teams are building the resilience needed to weather these testing times.