About Vertex Pharmaceuticals
As one of the pharmaceutical industry’s top places to work, Vertex Pharmaceutical is home to more than 4,000 researchers, scientists, engineers, and corporate employees in Boston and more than 15 countries around the world. Their mission is to support the cystic fibrosis (CF) community by discovering and developing medicines that treat the underlying cause of this devastating disease, and help improve patient’s lives. Vertex has a “we-first” attitude and believes in the fearless pursuit of excellence.
Why Vertex Cares
Vertex views their employees as the lifeblood of their organization. The company believes its success is fueled by their people and the diverse perspectives they bring to the table every day to create medicines that treat people with serious diseases.
Vertex leadership is conscious to not assume that an employee’s life stage is necessarily tied to their age alone. As a result, the company is focused on creating a benefits strategy designed to meet the needs of all employees, no matter their age or whether they’re caring for a child, parent, or pet (or in many cases, all three).
“We know that benefits aren’t one-size-fits-all and we want to make sure we have a wide array of benefits to support all our employees,” said Jennifer Aylwin, Associate Director of Benefits at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
How Vertex Cares
Vertex decided the best, and most equitable, way to support employees was with an intuitive, reliable solution to help with short- and long-term caregiving needs for every member of the family. After evaluating their options, they chose to partner with Care for Business to offer employees unlimited access to a Care Membership to find care for children, adults, and pets—plus tutoring and housekeeping services—in more than 17 countries worldwide. In addition, the Vertex team added Backup Care for children and adults—to use when regular care falls through—and 24/7 guidance, support, and advice with Care Specialists.
Working caregivers face so many obstacles and unknowns—often carrying the pressure to care for their loved ones while balancing their careers. With the addition of Care Specialists, Vertex provided employees with around-the-clock access to experts who can advise and support them and their families with any daily distraction or major life event.
“We were looking to provide resources for our employees as it relates to family caregiving in a meaningful way and help them when their normal care has fallen through to alleviate concerns on suitable child care,” said Aylwin. “We also wanted to focus on other areas to provide an inclusive solution that covers a multi-generational workforce.”
The Impact of Care
Care for Business has partnered with Vertex for more than 10 years, and nearly 40% of their employees are enrolled in Care benefits. In the past five years Vertex employees have used more than 800 days of Backup Care. And since the start of the pandemic, their use of Backup Care has grown year over year. In 2020, employees utilized 182 days of Backup Care, which ticked up to 195 days in 2021. In addition, during the past nine months on the Care program, more than 160 employees have engaged in a session with a Care Specialist, which saves the average employee 13 hours.
Vertex says they are happy with the depth and breadth of Care’s services, and how it helps them achieve their goal of offering benefits that can assist the diverse needs of its employee base.
“Having access to family care benefits has been paramount to our employees and helps with overall productivity as employees know they have premium access where they can easily arrange care for their family, pets, and their homes,” says Aylwin. “This allows them to focus on themselves and the patients we serve.”