Company Offers To Relocate Employees From Texas After Abortion Law

The CEO of Salesforce, a software company, offered to help 2,000+ employees in Texas relocate if they no longer feel safe due to the state’s new anti-abortion law

Since the passing of Senate Bill 8, the Texas abortion law that all but bans abortions in the state, companies with offices in the Lone Star State have offered various forms of support to their employees. Rideshare companies Uber and Lyft have offered to pay the legal fees of drivers impacted by the law, and dating apps Bumble and Match created relief funds to support their employees who no longer have safe access to reproductive health services. Salesforce, a prominent cloud-based software company with offices in Dallas, is the latest company to not only advocate for their employees, but offer financial assistance to those impacted by the new vigilante anti-abortion law.

On Sept. 10, Salesforce employees received a message on Slack stating, “These are incredibly personal issues that directly impact many of us — especially women.” While the company did not explicitly reference or make a statement on SB 8, their sentiment still feels clear. “We recognize and respect that we all have deeply held and different perspectives. As a company, we stand with all of our women at Salesforce and everywhere…With that being said, if you have concerns about access to reproductive healthcare in your state, Salesforce will help relocate you and members of your immediate family,” the message concluded.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff publicly offered his support. After news outlets started picking up this story, Benioff took to Twitter to confirm his company’s support, calling out Texas explicitly. “Ohana is you want to move we’ll help you exit TX. Your choice. ❤️”

This isn’t the first time the software company has taken a political stance.

Back in 2015, Benioff canceled all company events in the state of Indiana after then-governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law, which made it legal for individuals to use religious grounds as a defense if they were sued by LGBTQ+ people.

“We’ve made significant investments in Indiana. We run major marketing events and conferences there. We’re a major source of income and revenue to the state of Indiana, but we simply cannot support this kind of legislation,” Benioff told Vox at the time. “We can’t bring our customers or our employees into a situation where they might be discriminated against… We have a large number of employees and customers who would be impacted dramatically by this legislation. … I’m really just advocating on their behalf,” he explained.

Salesforce’s move inspired more companies to threaten economic sanctions in light of the bill and inspired legislative action. Here’s hoping that more companies continue to use their power to advocate for their employees and their rights.