transgender flag
© ReutersTransgender rights activist waves transgender flag at a rally in Washington Square Park in New York, May 24, 2019
American software company Salesforce has introduced a $40,000 financial package for its transgender employees around the world, including money for sex change operations and hundreds of dollars for new clothes.

Salesforce will provide its package for employees globally after previously launching it in the United States and Canada. Transgender staff will be able to take four weeks of paid leave and receive $40,000 to pay for sex change surgery, hair transplants, hormone replacement, and legal fees, and will even receive a budget of up to $500 for new clothes "to help them look and feel their best" - one of the newest additions to Salesforce's package.

"At Salesforce, we believe everyone deserves to be who they are — and that doing so makes each of us the happiest and healthiest version of ourselves," said the company in a statement, calling its financial package "an important step on that journey."

Manu Erwin, a "trans-femme non-binary" engineer for Salesforce in New Zealand, called the package "life changing" for transgender employees, noting that sex change surgery typically costs tens of thousands of dollars alone.

"The biggest benefit is the fact that it exists at all," Erwin said.

Pip Marlow, the CEO for Salesforce Australia and New Zealand, said she was "proud" of the company for expanding its transgender assistance package.

"If you don't put real money and investment behind your values, you're not really living them," argued Marlow, who describes herself as a "feminist" and "LGBTI ally."

Marlow added that the Covid-19 pandemic should inspire businesses to "take better care of our employees."