Living the Twilio Magic for 15 years
Want to know how Twilio has spent the past 15 years building positive change across the globe? By making sure Twilions are able to feel supported, respected, and empowered to be their best selves and do their best work. Our culture helps Twilions to inspire others to do the same.
Twilio Magic
At Twilio, the heartbeat of our organization is the Twilio Magic. The Twilio Magic represents the set of values that embody our aspirations in service of our customers. When you first step foot into Twilio, you immediately sense the power of The Magic - not just in the words on a page, but in the way our team lives and breathes these values to continuously push boundaries and excel.
The Magic consists of four foundational piillars: We are Builders, We are Owners, We are Curious, and We are Positrons. Twilio finds itself navigating a rapidly evolving landscape in 2024, yet the Twilio Magic remains steadfast. As we look ahead, new horizons and obstacles will undoubtedly appear, but our values will remain a guiding force - shaping how we approach our work, fostering a culture of shared responsibility in driving innovation, and solving challenges together as a team.
New hire experiences
New Twilions are immediately enveloped in the Twilio Magic through our New Hire Journey Program. New Twilions are matched with experienced team members who act as mentors to guide them through a seamless onboarding process. This 90-day program is designed to provide a structured introduction to Twilio's values, culture, history, technology, and products. New hires also have the opportunity to engage with Twilio.org, our social impact arm, and can participate in a volunteer event with Twilio.org within their first 100 days.
The track jacket project
The iconic red track jacket at Twilio is highly sought-after by Twilions, and there is only one way to earn one: by building an app using the Twilio platform. Our Track Jacket workshop allows Twilions to wear our customers' shoes and share a common experience with them by creating an app using Twilio's platform and products. Upon presenting their newly developed apps to their teams, Twilions earn their coveted red track jacket.
Twilioversaries
Anniversary milestones are cherished at Twilio, and we take great pleasure in honoring them. Twilions receive heartfelt virtual cards, cheers, and special gifts on their 1st, 5th, and 10th anniversaries, all inspired by significant symbols within the history of Twilio. These symbols include our 1st year hoodie, the 5th year bronze shoes to reflect wearing our customers' shoes, and the 10th anniversary Silver Pizza Box which pays tribute to the final checklist used to launch Twilio, written on the back of a pizza box.
Thriving in a remote-first environment
Open Work is our approach to empowering Twilions to thrive in a remote-first environment through the opportunity to make an impact regardless of location, purposeful connection, and flexibility. It’s not just about being a remote-first company; it’s how we connect with each other, contribute to the business, and make a bigger impact on the world.
How we activate Open Work
Impact, connection, and flexibility are central to our approach. We make sure every Twilion has access to the tools, resources, and opportunities they need to be productive, make an impact and pursue thriving careers. We believe healthy teams are built and sustained through purposeful connection, so we prioritize coming together in meaningful ways. We also operate flexibly within a framework that enables us to maintain a balance between our personal and professional lives.
A core pillar of Open Work is around enabling healthy, connected teams in our remote-first environment. In 2023, 80% of Twilions reported that they feel connected to their teams. That year we experimented with new connection programs, and the engagement across each program validated the importance of Twilions connecting meaningfully in our remote-first environment. Initiatives included:
Piloting a virtual team building experience program with 230 teams.
Testing new Offsite In a Box resources, including ready-to-use agenda and activities templates.
Ensuring each of our Hubs (cities where many Twilions are located) hosted year-end celebrations that nearly 1,500 Twilions attended.
How we see the future of Open Work
Twilions are thriving in a remote-first environment, doing work that matters wherever they’re located. After two years of embracing remote-first work, we’re applying what we’ve learned to support our globally-distributed workforce even more. We see this process as a continual evolution. We’ll keep listening to what Twilions need to make Twilio a better place to work, together.
2023 employee impact results
Key learnings: Uncovering lessons for the future
In 2023, we saw volunteer hours decline over the year prior—due in part to workforce reductions and a pause in matching gifts. At the same time, we saw an increase in the percentage of Twilions who volunteered. This is no accident. We’ve worked to grow our culture of volunteering by building strong nonprofit partnerships, collaborating with Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), and working directly with people managers to incorporate volunteer opportunities into team gatherings, both virtually and in person. We launched the "Team Volunteering Toolkit", which empowered Twilions with step by step planning guidance, including recommended nonprofit partners, to incorporate volunteering into team events. We’ve learned that Twilions view volunteerism as a core part of the company culture and that embedding volunteerism into existing culture programs and team offsites proved successful in sustaining our social impact efforts.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion: Making progress for all
Our vision for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is clear: To make Twilio more equitable and inclusive for all employees across the globe. In 2023, we took actions to support key DEI programs and initiatives, support Twilions of all backgrounds and identities, and foster an environment where we can build great things together.
Building communities with ERGs
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are foundational to inclusivity, connection, and community. Our ERGs help Twilions feel empowered and valued by providing a sense of community and support within the larger organization. Through career development workshops, mentorship and leadership programs, cultural celebrations, and philanthropic endeavors, employees can foster meaningful connections that help them grow personally and professionally.
In 2023, we increased the value of our ERGs in three core ways:
Cultivating career development
Through various DEI and ERG partnerships, we provided a number of programs for career development in 2023, including skill building sessions, educational workshops, and support groups. Many of these programs were designed to help all Twilions from various identities, backgrounds, and circumstances, including family caregivers and LGBTQ+ employees, advance their careers.
Example: 'Involve Rise' Leadership Development
Launched in our EMEA region in 2023, this program helps women develop leadership skills to grow their careers within the organization. Specialized programming equips future leaders with tools and strategies like self-advocacy and partnership-building to enhance personal and professional growth.
2023 workforce representation data
We are stronger as a business when we attract, develop, and retain a workforce that reflects our customers, communities, and the world. Each year, we collect representational workforce data16 based on voluntary self-identification. This data-driven approach to DEI allows us to understand our workforce and celebrate our progress in increasing representation while ensuring we understand areas of opportunity.
Our continued commitment to DEI
In 2024, Twilio is placing emphasis on further reducing bias in our processes and creating an equitable and inclusive workplace. Our goal is to provide Twilions of all backgrounds and identities the support they need to do their best work, grow, and thrive. To achieve this, we are taking decisive actions built around a two-pronged approach.
Prioritizing employee wellbeing and growth
We make comprehensive healthcare and mental health programs available to all Twilions and their families globally. We offer psychological support by providing all Twilions with access to mental health provider visits through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) as well as regular mental health workshops that raise awareness on risk factors and provide prevention strategies, such as stress management. Training is available for HR staff and managers about how to recognize and respond to an employee struggling with their mental health. Taking time away from work is critical for good mental health; eligible Twilions receive generous paid time off annually, paid holidays, company breaks, and other opportunities for time away to rest.
Twilions have access to paid maternity, paternity, adoption, and family medical care leave plus an inclusive family-forming benefit that supports Twilions in choosing their route to parenthood (via fertility, surrogacy, and/or adoption). To help employees settle in when returning from leaves of absence, we provide a four-week flexible return to work program. We also have a one-time remote work setup perk to ensure employees are equipped to work from home. All of these benefits and perks are available to eligible Twilions, worldwide.
Twilio provides country-specific retirement savings opportunities with company matching contributions in some cases. In an effort to support employees’ financial wellbeing, we invite experts to provide regular education on savings and investing, among other financial topics.
Our approach to employee health and safety
Our Corporate Security team is responsible for proactively identifying and managing safety and health risks that Twilions may face while working in the office or remotely. The team promotes health and safety through policies, procedures, safety training courses, ergonomics, safety audits, risk assessments, and emergency notifications and response.
Resources that spark learning and professional development
In 2023, we offered Twilions access to learning resources and content—including external resources like LinkedIn Learning and BetterUp and internally developed, business-specific training on topics such as leadership development, career development, living the Twilio Magic, and more. Through BetterUp, Twilions were able to access certified coaches online throughout the year.
To support our people managers, we delivered manager-focused workshops, offered a quickstart program for new managers, introduced new manager resources in our management portal, and provided access to six months of 1:1 coaching through BetterUp.
Footnotes
15 Includes employee donations, Twilio’s matching donations, and volunteer and giving rewards from Twilio.
16 In the US, we follow US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines in how we track employee data. In all other countries where we operate, we follow region-specific data privacy guidelines in how we track employee data. All employee data is pulled from Twilio’s Workday system as of December 31, 2023. All employee demographic data is self-reported by Twilions. This data includes regular and fixed-term employees only. This data includes employees that are fully integrated with Twilio and will exclude non-integrated employees until the year that they are integrated. “Other” denotes additional employee-defined categories. “Undeclared” denotes employees who selected “Do not wish to declare” as their self-ID selection. This data excludes employees who did not make any self-ID selections. Attrition includes both voluntary and involuntary attrition. Director+ includes employees who are Director-level and above. This group does not include our Board of Directors. Demographic data is based on the most recent self-identification on the day the record was accessed; therefore 2023 totals are based on employee self-identification as of December 31, 2023. "pp" is an abbreviation for percentage point.
17 The attrition data calculated and presented in this report excludes employee attrition from the February and December 2023 restructurings. This adjusted data helps present a clearer picture of comparison from 2022 to 2023. The impact of the 2023 restructurings was not excluded from any other workforce representation data.