Press Releases

Budapest, December 16, 2020 12:00

It was with the objective to help employees facing hardship due to the pandemic that in July Magyar Telekom’s management created Magenta Alliance Foundation, which employees were invited to support by donations. By December 15, employees have collected a total of HUF 5.695.530 million.

We have seen numerous examples of families, friends, generations or colleagues joining force by digital means to counter the effects of the pandemic. During the first wave of the pandemic, Magyar Telekom’s management has incorporated into its plans the strategic objective of guiding the company, the employees and, from a broader perspective, the whole society through the corona virus crisis. Therefore, in addition to striving to serve its customers to the maximum extent during the past months (by free-of-charge services, discounts, as well as reliable and stabile network access for home office and distance learning), the management of the company also made it a top priority to protect the health and safety of its employees and to address the financial hardship caused by the pandemic. It was upon the initiative of the company’s top management that in July, Magenta Alliance Foundation was brought to life with the purpose of uniting the employees in helping colleagues who were facing financial difficulties caused by the corona virus pandemic. So far, 242 Telekom employees have supported the foundation by donations amounting to a total of close to HUF 5,7 million, and the board of trustees granted aid in 64 cases in a total amount of more than HUF 9,5 million to colleagues whose spouses have lost their jobs due to the crisis or whose household incomes have dropped due to prolonged illness or the need to look after a sick family member.“We must underline the word unity in the name of the foundation, as it really stands for a joint effort. We have collected the funds managed by the foundation with help from our employees, which says a lot in itself about the strength of our community, and clearly indicates that we did good and did it well, when we launched the initiative,” shared his thoughts on the matter Magyar Telekom’s CEO, Tibor Rékasi.

In addition to employees donating money, several directorates of the company have also decided to give up part of their Christmas event budgets and support colleagues in need instead, which amounted to an additional HUF 4,8 million donated to the foundation.

“An initiative based uniting people for a cause always bears special significance, as it enables us to not only donate money, but also to apply the force of the community. Our Telekom community has proven by showing a beautiful example that we do not leave anyone behind in times of trouble,” emphasized the force of acting in unison Magyar Telekom’s Chief People Officer, Zsuzsa Friedl.

Telekom’s management presented the figures and thanked colleagues for their active involvement at its year-end online employee forum by a nice gesture. Kata Csondor’s song “Pass it on!” had become known as a theme of a 2009 T-Mobile commercial. Kata Csondor, Attila Kökény and Csaba Vastag created a new cover of the song this year, and Telekom uses the different versions of the song in its Christmas commercials and internal communication.

The head of Amigos for Children Foundation, Sára Fábián and the founder of Indahouse Foundation, Fruzsina Benkő discussed the most beautiful examples of charitable and selfless help in a Magenta Podcast. Andrea Angyal the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees also talks about the goals of Magenta Alliance Foundation and their implementation in the episode.
You can access the podcast here:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6fuFq5yIFyFBz4X81rX0uC?si=sJbYMWmPTXKfyj_vy-CazQ