Amazon,Microsoft have advised employees worldwide to work from home due to concerns about the coronavirus outbreak
The new coronavirus epidemic is still spreading worldwide. On Tuesday, Amazon announced that an employee in Seattle was diagnosed with COVID-19. On Wednesday, Amazon sent an email to all employees in Seattle and Bellevue to announce that they could be at home from Wednesday to the end of the month.
On the same day that Amazon sent the email, King County officials also advised companies to slow the spread of the new coronavirus by allowing as many employees as possible to work from home.
On Wednesday afternoon, Kurt DelBene, the Microsoft Chief Digital Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Core Services Engineering, and Operations, stated that Microsoft has adjusted the employee’s office guidelines in accordance with WHO’s guidance and recommendations.
Microsoft writes:
- Consistent with King County guidance, we are recommending all employees who are in a job that can be done from home should do so through March 25th. Taking these measures will ensure your safety and also make the workplace safer for those that need to be onsite. Please let your manager know that you will be working from home, so all our teams remain well coordinated.
- If in your role it is essential to be in the office or other work environments (e.g., data center, retail, etc.), plan to continue to go to your location. We will continue to implement the CDC guidelines for cleaning and sanitizing the locations. If you are not sure whether you are in a role that requires you to be onsite, you should speak to your manager.
Microsoft not only advises its employees in the US to start working from home but also takes care of the safety of its employees worldwide.
At present, Microsoft has closed most of its office locations in mainland China and allowed employees in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan to choose to work from home. For Japan and South Korea, Microsoft employees in Japan are currently recommended to work from home.
