Coronavirus Update: Google Suggests North America Employees To Work From Home Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

KEY POINTS

Google asked employees in North America to work from home if their jobs allowed them to
Google and other tech giants wish to contain the spread of coronavirus by implementing this policy
The Mountain View company also set up a COVID-19 fund for temporary worker and vendors

Google advised its employees in North America to work from home if their job allowed them to. Last week, Google issued a memo suggesting that employees in the San Francisco area, Seattle and Dublin consider working remotely. The spread of the coronavirus compelled tech giants, like Apple and Google, to recommend work-from-home policy to their employees.

A spokesperson for Google confirmed to Tech Crunch that employees in North America are being asked to work from home if they can.

The Mountain View-based tech behemoth also confirmed that similar guidance is given to other regions. Meanwhile, Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai also asked people to maintain “social distancing” if they can to overall help the community to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Contributing to social distancing if you are able to, helps the overall community spread and most importantly, will help offset the peak loads through critical healthcare systems and also saves it for people in need. (based on expert advice). Please contribute if you are able to https://t.co/RNUh2kSyIJ
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) March 10, 2020

Elsewhere, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook also proposed the concept of working from home to several employees at its global offices from March 9 to March 13.

Google also announced a COVID-19 fund for the temporary staff and vendors across the globe. The fund will enable them to opt for “paid sick leave if they have potential symptoms of COVID-19, or can’t come into work because they’re quarantined.”

“Working with our partners, this fund will mean that members of our extended workforce will be compensated for their normal working hours if they can’t come into work for these reasons. We are carefully monitoring the situation and will continue to assess any adjustments needed over the coming months,” Adrienne Crowther, Director, Workplace Services at Google wrote in the official blog post.

The coronavirus continued to spread in the U.S. as health officials enforce new measures to contain the spread. In the meantime, the death toll due to this virus rose to 4,200 globally and sickened 115,800 people.

According to CNN, California, where Google is headquartered, reported 116 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including three deaths. Washington reported the most number of cases, which is at 273 with 24 deaths.