Western Digital Receives 2020 Pro Patria Award for Exemplary Support of Guard and Reserve Employees

Highest honor given by the California Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Committee, a U.S. Department of Defense Program

Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC) announced today it has received the 2020 Pro Patria Award from the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense program. The highest-level honor bestowed by the California ESGR state committee, the award recognizes employers that demonstrate steadfast and exemplary support to National Guard and Reserve employees.

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Western Digital was selected by California's ESGR committee in the Large Business category. The selection committee evaluated the service, leadership, community outreach, and company policies in place that facilitate employees to serve in the military.

In 2018, Western Digital created its We.Salute business resource group to better serve its diverse military employees, their families, and their work teams by providing additional internal and external resources to those who are serving or have served their countries.

“We are deeply grateful and proud of our servicemen and women for their service and sacrifices to protecting their respective countries,” said David Goeckeler, CEO of Western Digital. “We want to help eliminate any stress that arises from transitioning between work, deployments and military training requirements, while also making our veterans and reservists feel valued for their courage, dedication and work ethic. We are honored to receive this award and are committed to supporting our veterans and reservists in both their professional and military careers.”

Since establishing We.Salute, Western Digital has grown the program to expand and evolve its capabilities to better serve its members, including:

• Creating an in-house roundtable with non-profit organizations assisting veterans and veteran families in crisis
• Sharing beneficial information and external resources with veterans and active-duty employees
• Sending care packages to deployed team members
• Facilitating reservists transitioning to and from mobilization, as well as training supervisors on the importance of reservists to the organization
• Organizing donations to local non-profits

In addition to the Pro Patria Award, Western Digital was a semi-finalist for the 2021 Secretary of Defense “Freedom Award,” based on the nomination of an Army Reservist employee in 2020. Western Digital was among 140 top employers of National Guard and military reservists from 3,382 nominations nation-wide.

Western Digital has previously received several honors from ESGR for its continued support of military service members, such as the Above and Beyond Award in 2019, three Patriot Awards in 2018, and three Seven Seals Awards.

About Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve

ESGR, a Department of Defense program, was established in 1972 to promote cooperation and understanding between Reserve Component Service members and their civilian employers.

About Western Digital

Western Digital creates environments for data to thrive. As a leader in data infrastructure, the company is driving the innovation needed to help customers capture, preserve, access and transform an ever-increasing diversity of data. Everywhere data lives, from advanced data centers to mobile sensors to personal devices, our industry-leading solutions deliver the possibilities of data. Our data-centric solutions are comprised of the Western Digital®, G-Technology™, SanDisk®, and WD® brands.

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