Putting people at the heart of hybrid work: Zoom to acquire Workvivo to bolster the employee experience offering

The employee communication and engagement platform will give Zoom customers new ways to keep employees informed, engaged, and connected in today’s hybrid work model

Zoom and Workvivo

Zoom announces intent to acquire Workvivo

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 14, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Behind work are workers. Real everyday people. People who work to live, not live to work. People who need a sense of belonging. It’s a simple concept that often gets forgotten as priorities and demands take over the workday.

With workforces looking much different than they did just a few years ago, leaders need to think differently to retain talent and maintain company culture. Today’s workforce is hybrid and distributed – with people working from home, in an office, at a remote location, on the frontlines of a retail floor or warehouse, as a pilot or flight attendant in an airplane, a nurse in a healthcare clinic, or anything in between. In fact, 70% of US employees are frontline workers. They are people who want to feel connected to their colleagues and leaders – no matter where they work. Engaging employees and driving culture through connection is no longer a ‘nice to have’ – it’s imperative for success in today’s business environment.

Zoom is excited to announce the acquisition of Workvivo to extend Zoom’s platform and offer its customers new ways to keep employees informed, engaged, and connected.

Founded in 2017, Workvivo provides a modern, feature-rich employee experience platform, combining advanced internal communication and engagement tools, a social intranet, and an employee app, all blended into one central hub, forming the heart of a company’s digital ecosystem. Workvivo’s best-in-class offering has seen triple-digit growth in the last three years and is used and trusted by hundreds of customers worldwide, from SMBs to some of the world’s most well-known brands, including Liberty Mutual, Lululemon, Ryanair, Madison Square Garden, and Wynn Resorts.

“We are excited to welcome the Workvivo team to Zoom. The power of Workvivo employee experience platform, with its robust communications and engagement offering combined with Zoom’s all-in-one collaboration platform, allows organizations to fully unlock the potential of their employees and evolve their company culture in a hybrid world,” said Kelly Steckelberg, chief financial officer at Zoom. “Workvivo has set the standard for employee communications, helping businesses reach and engage millions of employees worldwide. Workvivo prioritizes ease-of-use and simplicity of design, offering the best user experience which is a perfect match to Zoom’s DNA.”

“Zoom’s rapid pace of innovation and the persistent dedication to building products with a human-first mindset is why we are most excited about joining the team,” said John Goulding, CEO and co-founder at Workvivo. “Our platform replaces outdated, clunky, internal communications tools with a vibrant, familiar social experience, and has a proven history of unparalleled levels of adoption. With Zoom, we can build great things together, make teamwork more meaningful, and extend collaboration beyond knowledge workers, allowing us to reach employees who have historically felt disconnected from the company.”

Workvivo UI
Workvivo is an employee experience platform designed to inform, engage and connect employees everywhere.

Workvivo is an employee experience platform designed to inform, engage and connect employees everywhere.

With this acquisition, Zoom continues its evolution to provide the best end-to-end collaboration platform focused on enabling modern work and powering the digital-first workplace.

Following the close of the transaction, Zoom plans to incorporate Workvivo’s capabilities into its platform to deliver a best-in-class, employee experience. Workvivo’s founders John Goulding and Joe Lennon, and the entire Workvivo team, will be instrumental in driving employee experience innovation strategy.

The transaction is expected to close in Q1 FY2024. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Zoom
Zoom is an all-in-one intelligent collaboration platform that makes connecting easier, more immersive, and more dynamic for businesses and individuals. Zoom technology puts people at the center, enabling meaningful connections, facilitating modern collaboration, and driving human innovation through solutions like team chat, phone, meetings, omnichannel cloud contact center, smart recordings, whiteboard, and more, in one offering. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ:ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Get more info at zoom.com.

About Workvivo
Workvivo is an employee experience platform designed to inform, engage and connect employees everywhere. Workvivo works with organizations globally across multiple industries, including Bupa, TELUS International and Everton FC. Read more at www.workvivo.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking information related to Zoom and Workvivo and the acquisition of Workvivo by Zoom that involves substantial risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements in this communication include, among other things, statements regarding the potential benefits of the proposed transaction for Zoom, Workvivo and their respective customers, Zoom’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to the proposed transaction, Zoom’s ability to offer the best end-to-end collaboration platform, the financial condition, results of operations and business of Zoom, and the anticipated closing of the proposed transaction. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “project,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “can,” “predict,” “potential,” “target,” “explore,” “continue,” or the negative of these terms, and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. By their nature, these statements are subject to numerous uncertainties and risks, including factors beyond our control, that could cause actual results, performance or achievement to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the statements, including: risks related to the ability of Zoom to consummate the proposed transaction on a timely basis or at all, Zoom’s ability to successfully integrate Workvivo’s operations and personnel, Zoom’s ability to implement its plan, forecasts and other expectations with respect to Workvivo’s business after the completion of the transaction, the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the proposed transaction, and continued uncertainty regarding the extent and duration of the impact of COVID-19 and the responses of government and private industry thereto, including the potential effect on Zoom’s user growth rate as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic tapers. Additional risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements described under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere are in Zoom’s most recent filings with the SEC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2023. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made and are based on information available to Zoom at the time those statements are made and/or management’s good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events. Zoom assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, except as required by law.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ed1d522c-0c14-4cdf-9ace-60dedc4803fe

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Zoom Public Relations
Candace Dean
press@zoom.us

Solvvy Public Relations
Eleanor O’Mahony
eleanor.omahony@workvivo.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8808322

Eskom teams working to reduce higher load shedding stages

State power utility, Eskom, says it is working hard to address the causes of persistent breakdowns at power stations and ensure that the higher stages of load shedding are reduced.

This as the power utility implemented Stage 6 load shedding this week going into the weekend.

Stage 5 is expected to be implemented between 5am and 4pm on Saturday, returning to Stage 6 between 4pm and 5am on Sunday morning.

Following that, Stage 4 will be implemented from 5am to 4pm on Sunday afternoon and return to Stage 6.

“Eskom regrets the escalation of load shedding to Stage 6 but would like to assure all South Africans that our personnel at the various power stations are working around the clock to bring units back online and at higher efficiencies as soon as possible.

“It is to be noted that load shedding is implemented as a last resort to maintain the stability of the national grid,” Eskom said.

The electricity provider explained that long term outages have worsened the strain on the grid and has removed some 3080MW from the power system – the equivalent of three stages of load shedding.

“Apart from other generation challenges, the current situation has been exacerbated by the loss of four major units, which are on extended outages.

“Units 1, 2 and 3 of Kusile Power Station are currently offline as a result of the failure of the Unit 1 flue gas duct on 22 October 2022. Work is underway to bring these units back online from November 2023.

“Unit 1 at Koeberg Power Station is currently on a long-term outage for maintenance and refuelling as well as the replacement of the steam generators and is expected to return to service on 6 August 2023,” Eskom said.

By Friday, the power utility had lost some 17 093MW of generating capacity due to breakdowns with a further 6392MW out on planned maintenance.

The electricity provider emphasised that the “root causes” of these breakdowns are being addressed through the Generation Recovery Programme.

“Eskom continues to drive generation recovery initiatives which are aimed at preventing the current performance from deteriorating in the short term and improving the overall performance of the generation fleet in the long term.

“There have been some improvements recently, including several power stations achieving an energy availability of 70% in March as well as the suspension of load shedding on some days,” the group said.

Eskom maintained that it “does not want to implement load shedding if at all possible” but warned that with the power system under “severe pressure” the possibility of load shedding still remains.

“The cold front expected this weekend is anticipated to further increase the demand for electricity, adding to the capacity constraints, especially at evening peak hours from 5pm until 9pm. This can be alleviated if all consumers switch of heating and high consumption appliances during the peak hours.

“We thank those South Africans who heed the call to use electricity sparingly and help to alleviate the pressure on the power system,” Eskom said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

President urges senior public servants to accelerate implementation

President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged government’s Directors General (DGs) and Deputy Directors Generals to take tangible actions to deliver on their mandates more effectively.

The President held a meeting with the senior government officials on Friday in Pretoria to discuss the continued and accelerated implementation of government’s key priority areas.

“It is urgent that we narrow the gulf between priority setting and effective execution. And in doing so our focus must not be on setting unrealistic goals that cannot possibly be achieved in less than a year, but on a few tangible actions that can move the needle, and meaningfully so.

“The time for half-measures and heel dragging is over. It is time for decisive actions that will lift this country above the many crises we have faced over the course of this administration. It is time for high-impact, measurable interventions that will make an actual difference,” President Ramaphosa said.

In a statement, the Presidency said the meeting with the government leaders “covered a wide range of issues that are currently undermining the effectiveness of government”.

“President Ramaphosa expressed concern at the targets that are being missed and implementation failures that continue to cause a credibility deficit for the government.

“The rise of adverse audit outcomes and the failure to arrest them with urgency was identified as leadership weakness that undercuts the progress that government is making in rebuilding the upper ranks of the Public Service. The meeting further reflected on processes of filling vacancies that are moving at a snail’s pace in many departments, causing inefficiencies and complete paralysis,” the statement read.

Moving forward, the Presidency said, clusters will be expected to provide detail on how they will be addressing outstanding actions.

“The Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation will provide data sets to assist clusters evaluate progress in implementing the MTSF 2019 to 2024, as well as all State of the Nation commitments since 2019.

“Importantly, the President further directed that public communication must be strengthened for

increased public accountability,” the statement said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

100, 000 Tree Seedlings Planted In Narok County This Year

National Government officers and residents of Narok County have planted more than 100, 000 tree seedlings in the area since the year began.

However, Narok County Commissioner Isaac Masinde said the trees planted were less than their monthly target because of the prolonged dry spell that had hit the area.

‘We have a target of planting about 270, 000 trees per month as a county. We will continue planting more trees especially this rainy season so that we can attain our target,’ he said.

The commissioner spoke at the Olchoro area during a tree planting session that incorporated heads of department from the National Government and Narok Court Users.

During the function, over 2, 000 tree seedlings, mainly bamboo seedlings, were planted at the Olchoro River Catchment land.

Masinde asked residents to plant trees on the roadsides, individual farms and institutions like churches, schools and market places during this rainy season.

Narok Senior Resident Magistrate Adelaide Sisenda, who led the Narok Court Users reiterated the need to plant trees saying they conserve the environment and attract rainfall.

She challenged the residents to prioritize the agenda of planting trees in every forum they gather and teach their young children the importance of planting trees.

‘When we gather for any meeting like women groups and other family meetings, please, let us have a session where we plant trees. We should make it a norm in the society in order to increase our forest cover,’ she reiterated.

The Magistrate underscored the high penalties that come with destroying the environment saying apart from the fine that one will be forced to pay, he or she will be required to plant and tender over three tree seedlings to compensate for the one that was cut down.

‘We will not allow some few individuals to destroy the work that we are doing. We cannot be planting trees and then others follow behind cutting down trees without a valid permit from Kenya Forest Service. Those with such intentions should be warned that the penalties are very stiff,’ she said.

The security team led by County Police Commander John Kizito, Huduma center employees led by their manager Naserian Katampoi and tens of heads of departments were among the people that were present during the tree planting exercise.

The team will be moving to various parts of the county planting trees including the Maasai Mau forest and institutions.

Two weeks ago, the team planted over 2, 000 seedlings at the Etiang area in Olokurto ward.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Migori County To Foot Bills Of Lorry Accident Victims

Migori County Government has affirmed that it will foot the bills of the 11 people that perished during the recent fatal road accident in Migori town.

The accident occurred on April 7, when a lorry on transit from Nairobi to Isebania ferrying rice lost control and rammed into parked motorbikes and vehicles in downtown Migori killing seven people on the spot.

Migori Deputy Governor Dr. Joseph Mahiri affirmed that already the County has set aside Sh1 million to help bereaved families from the last weekend’s accident meet funeral expenses. The cash will help to foot the hospital and mortuary bills, coffins and hearse services.

He also added that they will foot the bills of the seven individuals that are still nursing serious injuries at the Migori County Referral Hospital.

Mahiri also announced that the county will host a joint memorial service on April 19 at Migori Stadium for the interdenominational mass to the bereaved families.

The official however, noted that they will continue engaging the bereaved families on any arrangements to ensure the process goes on smoothly.

He noted that they will be reorganising the Migori Central Business District (CBD) to prevent any future accidents in the CBD.

‘We have already identified and allocated spaces for taxis and trucks and started to engage with the CDB boda boda to identify safe spaces for them to park and drop their customers,’ said Mahiri.

Mahiri also acknowledged that the county will hatch a plan to re-route commercial trucks to use the newly constructed Kakrao-Namba bypass instead of passing through the town.

He explained that the county has already started to engage the Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA) on how best to control the speed within Migori town.

Migori County Executive Committee Member (CCEM) for Environment and Disaster Management Rahab Robi said that the county will stand with the bereaved families by giving them moral and financial support as they seek to bury their loved ones.

Robi said that already the national and county governments through the Ministry of Lands and Urban Planning, Transport and Public Works and Trade will to allocate safe spaces for taxis, boda boda and trucks.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Kisii Teacher Charged With Fake Documents

A primary school teacher from Gucha, has been arraigned in the Kisii law courts over false documentation, personification and fraudulently acquiring property.

In a case presented to the Kisii law courts by the Anticorruption Commission (EACC), Isaiah Okombo Otieno Alias Daudi Ochoi Alias Duncan Ochoi Magero was accused of 7 counts including forgery of certificates as P1 teacher that he had presented to Teachers service commission (TSC) in 2007.

The accused who received salaries and commissions from February 2007 to May 2019 from TSC by personification and false documentation was arrested by EACC detectives at Nyakeyo market, Etago South Mugirango and appeared in court on Thursday before magistrate Wa

Kungwa Wahinya.

Okombo Otieno through personification secured a job with TSC contrary to section 384 of Penal code and providing false information of a person employed in the public service contrary to section 129 of penal code.

The court heard that between February 2 and 26, 2007 Okombo presented personified KCPE documents to TSC with serial number 1008541, which were lawfully issued to Ochoi Daudi Magero by KNEC.

The Accused pleaded not guilty to the 7 counts, but he accepted to have been receiving salaries and commissions from TSC amounting to Sh3.3 million from 2007-2019 therefore released on a Bond of Sh 700,000 and cash bail of Sh 200,000.

The case will be mentioned on April 25, 2023.

Source: Kenya News Agency