Recently, our People and Culture team from across our global offices, including London, United Kingdom, Hanover, United States, Ottawa, Canada, and Gurugram, India, gathered for a week-long summit to connect with their colleagues. This global, diverse culture is one of the many aspects that makes Ciena a truly special place to work. Our teams can be thousands of miles away from each other, yet connect as if they are together every day. We would not be able to provide this sense of global community without embracing flexibility about when, where, and, how individuals and teams work.

Studies show that flexibility is increasingly valued by employees. In fact, 70% of today’s workforce considers it more important than their pay and benefits combined. And when people are satisfied with how a company embraces a range of workstyles, they're 2.6 times more likely to report being happy and 2.1 times more likely to recommend their employer to others. At Ciena, we trust and empower our teams to achieve outcomes, placing importance on results rather than focusing on working hours or physical office presence.

Colleagues in Gurugram, India at our People and Culture Summit

As a testament to our People Promise, flexible working has long been offered at Ciena as one way that we empower individuals and foster happiness at work. Flexibility has been a key part of our culture well before the global pandemic and remains a massive driver of engagement. In fact, our recent pulse survey told us that 91% of our people feel satisfied with the ability to choose where and when they work. This provides individuals with less time commuting so they can have more time to spend with their families, their morning and evening routines, and the ability to easily adjust their schedules to fit the needs of their personal lives. We also recognize that flexibility means different things to different people, so our Workstyle Policy allows Individuals to choose whether they wish to work in either a hybrid or remote workstyle.

In the last year, we extended Flexible Paid Time Off (Flex PTO) to nearly all individuals across the globe. Flex PTO allows people to take time off as needed, which is underpinned by autonomy and trust that they will use proper judgment to meet their objectives and our commitments to customers. It is an uncapped benefit, so individuals don’t have to worry about taking time off when they need to reset and recharge.

Ciena’s flexibility not only helps individuals create more balance and happiness in their lives, but it also helps us as a company find the best talent. We are still learning how we can best connect and collaborate in this new hybrid way of working, but we believe we are not alone as we all adjust to this new working environment.

In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing world, flexibility and work-life balance have become top priorities for people. At Ciena, we are proud to have long embraced this as a team and we are happier for it. By prioritizing the well-being of individuals and meeting them where they are, we are not only cultivating a happier and more engaged team, but also creating a more vibrant, innovative, and inclusive workplace that inspires and enables individuals to thrive both personally and professionally.