Thread by @krmaher

Hi 👋. I’m the CEO of @Wikimedia Foundation. We operate @Wikipedia and work to keep it available for the world, especially in times of crisis. What happens in the world happens on Wikipedia. That means we've been tracking the COVID-19 pandemic, and taking steps to respond. (1/13)

Wikipedia is viewed by more than 1.5 billion devices every month, reading 15 billion pages+. We also have a global staff of 400+ people and thousands of volunteers. Here's what we're doing to keep going and keep safe during COVID-19. 😷(2/13)

- Closed our offices and moved to remote work
- Stopped all staff and community travel
- Cancelled all events until WHO declares the pandemic over
- Committed to paying hourly/contract workers in full.... (3/13)

- Waived sick days and PTO for illness and care-giving
- Moved to a 50% work expectation (20 hours per week)
- Deprioritized all non-essential projects/programs

All these steps, and my email to all staff, are included here ⬇️ (4/13)
medium.com/freely-sharing…

We took COVID-19 seriously early on. Seventy percent of our staff already work remotely. But, when we learned of community transmission in the Bay Area two weeks ago, we mobilized all staff to work from home. Within 24 hours, our San Francisco and DC offices were closed.⏱️(5/13)

Now, all staff are fully remote. And we're instituting measures to reduce their cognitive strain so people can stay healthy and care for loved ones. We’ve waived the use of sick days or PTO for COVID-19 related care. ❤️ (6/13)

We’ve also instituted a 50% work requirement. We’re only asking for 20 hours a week. We know many people do more for our mission, but we want to be supportive of those who can’t, for reasons such as childcare, illness, or their own mental health. 🤲(7/13)

We're not tracking our colleagues' time. People will work when they can, and when they can’t, we trust they’ll be right. 🙏 (8/13)

We’re working to lighten the load and focus on only essential work. Our SRE teams have to keep Wikipedia up, our HR and finance folks have to keep payroll flowing. 50% time only works if we deprioritize non-essential work. So we’re doing that. 💻(9/13)

We’re looking at how to respond to the broader moment. Our product teams are working with our community members to find ways to better showcase information about coronavirus, including designs for how to host essential info on Wikipedia’s front page. 📰 (10/13)

Through it all, we're focused on keeping @Wikipedia up and the world informed. We're supporting our volunteers around the world who are working diligently to curb misinformation and provide quality, comprehensive articles about the pandemic. 🦠 ↓ (11/13) wired.com/story/how-wiki…

It’s everyone's responsibility to do everything in their power to prevent further harm. At @Wikimedia we're taking these steps to protect our communities, colleagues, and families, while keeping @Wikipedia thriving. We’re asking you to join us in keeping people safe. 🌍 (12/13)

Please see my full post below for more info about our changes and approach in this time of crisis. Our email to all staff is available under @creativecommons. Share freely, borrow liberally, go forth, and be good. And wash your dang hands! 🙌(13/13) medium.com/freely-sharing…