Our volunteering programmes provide help where help is needed

Employee volunteering activities

We enable our employees to do three days of voluntary work once every three years. In addition, every team can dedicate one day a year to a social commitment.

In 2020, 42 CSS employees put in a total of 97 days' voluntary work. And in 2021, a number of teams were once again out and about, ready to lend a helping hand. Through these activities, we provide help directly where it is needed while at the same time offering our employees a change of scenery that will contribute new impressions, ideas and thoughts to their everyday working lives.

Armed with pitchforks and rakes

The management team of the Clients & Market division helped out the Waldvogels, a farming family in Arth, canton Zug. Armed with pitchforks and rakes, the team of six set off into steep terrain to clear the pasture of wood debris, making it free again for the animals. In the afternoon, they cut thorn bushes and disposed of them further down in the woods. Farmer Jolanda Waldvogel was impressed: "They've shown that office workers are also willing to get their hands dirty. Without their support, this work would have taken us several days."

Helping out in the forest

Michael Rieger, Head of Innovation Operations & Portfolio, helped out with a mountain forest project in the Entlebuch region last summer. At 7.30 am precisely on six days in late summer, the helpers were ready to get to work in the mountain forest, much of which had been destroyed by a storm. Before the mechanical forestry work could begin, it was necessary to clear the forest of fallen timber and create walking paths. The band of volunteers was a mixed bunch. "I definitely wanted to go into a new environment where I could meet people I wouldn't normally encounter otherwise," said Michael Rieger afterwards.

Working up a sweat on the slopes

Our Corporate Publishing team also spent a late summer's day in the great outdoors, far from the office and day-to-day business. They helped out a farming family, the Küchlers, in Luthern, canton Lucerne. They cleared a steep slope of shrubs and small trees in sweltering temperatures. Farmer Erwin Küchler was delighted with their efforts.

Volunteering activities in 2020

In 2020 too, 42 CSS employees performed a total of 97 days' volunteer work. This included two friends helping a pressurised nursing home in Lucerne in the fight against COVID-19. Find out more.