Apple advised 12,000 workers at its Cupertino headquarters to work from home on Friday amid growing concerns over coronaviruses, a day after California declared a state of emergency.
In a memo seen by DailyMail.com and sent to all staff in the Santa Clara Valley offices named Apple Park, employees were informed that care was being taken following recent directions from public health officials.
Staff were informed that the offices would remain open but that they “encouraged team members” to stay away despite sending the email when many were already on their way to work.
The company joined Facebook and Microsoft who also introduced new policies to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus this week. It is estimated that 83,000 workers are affected by the closings and home work policies in these three companies alone.
Apple’s retail stores in the region will remain open.
Apple advised 12,000 Cupertino head office workers to work from home
54,000 Microsoft employees estimated to be affected by office closings this week
Facebook coronavirus shutdown says 17,000 people should work from home
The offices, named Apple Park, will remain open but staff have been asked to stay away
“ As the COVID-19 response has grown, Apple’s dedicated team has focused on what is best for the safety and well-being of our teams, ” said said the memo, which was sent to employees at around 8:30 a.m. on Friday when many would have been on their way to work.
Friday March 6, we take the extra precaution of encouraging team members from our SCV offices to work from home if you can.
“Although the offices are open, this change is prompted by recent directives from public health officials who recommend minimizing crowded gatherings and reducing proximity when possible.”
He added that the situation would be monitored over the weekend and that new desktop updates would be released.
Facebook told employees at its San Francisco Bay offices to stay home on Friday and cancel all business trips due to the virus. The company has approximately 14,000 employees in the Bay Area.
The social network, which has thousands of offices in the region, “strongly recommends” that all workers in the region work from home on Friday, March 6, a company spokesperson told CNBC.
However, employees essential to the safety and security of the site will still be required to work on site, despite the city’s announcement of its first two confirmed cases of virus.
There are approximately 3,000 employees in Facebook offices in Seattle
Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park told employees to stay home too
“Based on Santa Clara County advice today, we strongly recommend that all Bay Area employees and support staff work from home starting tomorrow, Friday March 6,” said Thursday evening Facebook spokesman Anthony Harrison in a statement to CNBC.
“This decision is based on our desire to minimize the risk of the spread of COVID-19, the health and safety of our teams, their families and our neighbors remain an absolute priority.”
The social network also cancels any event in the bay region.
Facebook already announced Wednesday evening the closure of its Seattle office after a subcontractor discovered the virus. Between the closings in San Francisco and Seattle, about 17,000 company employees work from home.
The office will be closed until at least Monday March 9, and the company encourages employees to work from home for the rest of the month.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has already asked employees in its San Francisco Bay and Seattle offices to work from home if they can do so to limit the spread of the virus.
The company has more than 80,000 employees in the United States, 54,000 of whom are based on the Washington State campus in Redmond.
Microsoft Redmond campus is home to approximately 54,000 employees
The company is committed to continue paying its employees who are paid by the hour during the epidemic, even if they cannot come to work.
With the new policy for hourly workers, Microsoft provides regular income to its workers who do not have a contract and must be on site to do their jobs, including cleaners and kitchen staff.
“We recognize the hardship that job loss can create for hourly workers,” Microsoft president Brad Smith wrote in a blog article on Thursday.
“As a result, we have decided that Microsoft will continue to pay all of our hourly service providers regular wages during this period of reduced service requirements.
“It doesn’t depend on the need for their full services.
“As a company, we are committed to making public health our first priority and to doing what we can to cope with the economic and societal impact of COVID-19.
“We recognize that what is affordable for a large employer may not be affordable for a small business, but we believe that large employers who can afford to take this type of action should consider doing so.”
In Seattle alone, there are 4,500 hourly Microsoft employees.
Microsoft said it is exploring the best way to introduce a similar policy for workers in other parts of the country and the world where the coronavirus is having an impact.
Microsoft employees in both regions were invited to work from home until March 25 if they can.
“ Taking these steps will ensure your safety and also make the workplace safer for those who need to be on site, ” Kurt DelBene, executive vice president, told employees in a message this week.
Employees for whom “it is essential to be in the office or in other work environments” should continue to go to their place of work and that the company would follow government directives to disinfect its sites for essential personnel .
Microsoft also asked employees to suspend all business travel to the “unless it is critical to Microsoft’s continuity” areas.
He said employees should cancel trips to areas with active coronavirus cases – which includes much of Europe, Asia and the Americas.
The company says it is using its technology to fight the virus by “taking extra steps to stay connected around the world”, for example via telehealth solutions for the medical industries and e-learning programs for schools and universities.
Microsoft isn’t the only Seattle-based company to send workers home because of the virus, officially known as COVID-19.
In the United States, the epidemic hit Washington more heavily than any other state, with 13 of the 14 deaths occurring there.
Amazon, which transformed the city in the northwest of the United States with its urban campus, gave the green light to more than 50,000 employees in the region to work remotely.
Equipment service worker for King County Metro sprays disinfectant on subway bus in Seattle, Washington, new focal point for coronavirus outbreak
Google, which has continued to expand operations in Seattle, is also encouraging Washington workers to stay away from offices to reduce risks amid the epidemic
The company confirmed this week that a Seattle employee was quarantined after being tested positive for the new coronavirus.
Google, which has continued to expand its operations in Seattle, is also encouraging workers in Washington to stay away from offices in order to reduce risk amid the epidemic that has killed more than 3,000 people worldwide.
Carpool Lyft said it had encouraged its San Francisco staff to work from home the rest of the week after learning that one of its employees was in contact with someone exposed to COVID-19.
“The team member has not shown any symptoms and is in contact with medical professionals,” said Lyft in response to an AFP survey.
“We base each step of our response process on CDC guidelines, and as a precaution, we encourage our employees at the San Francisco headquarters to work from home.”
Lyft’s headquarters in San Francisco, which remains open, needed to be thoroughly cleaned.
This week, global employer Twitter also told all 5,000 of its workers worldwide to work from home due to the epidemic.
Google has also told all employees at its European headquarters in Dublin to go home and the company will also conduct all of Google’s interviews worldwide virtually via Hangout, its video calling software.