Twitter asks staff to work from home; TCS, HCL Tech say avoid travel

Twitter has asked its employees to work from home while other tech giants like Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Technologies have instructed staff to avoid non-essential travel as IT firms put in place measures to safeguard workers against the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Twitter gave employees an option to work from home after the death toll for the coronavirus outbreak crossed over 3,000 globally, and fresh cases came to be reported in India.

"We are strongly encouraging all employees globally to work from home if they're able. Our goal is to lower the probability of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus for us -- and the world around us," Twitter said in a blog.

In a series of tweets, Jennifer Christie, who leads the people team at Twitter, said, "Today, we shared additional guidance, strongly encouraging all Twitter employees globally to work from home if they're able. Our goal is to minimise contact with others and contain any potential risk, protecting everyone's health and safety."

The Indian IT industry is also focussing on ensuring the safety of employees. A TCS spokesperson said the company is working closely with all the relevant global, regional and local health institutions and is implementing the latest recommendations given to the company. "We are ensuring that our staff have all the information and support they require. In addition, we are also working closely with our clients to co-ordinate any measures in this situation," the spokesperson said.

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The TCS spokesperson added that specifically in Italy, as a precautionary measure, the company has implemented work from home and restrictions on travel. "This had also been put in place across some countries in Asia-Pacific, and is being monitored and modified based on the situation in each location," he said.

HCL Technologies said it has invoked an epidemic contingency plan in the impacted geographies and is providing full support to employees, wherever possible. "'Remote Working/Work From Home' strategy has been activated to aid social distancing in the impacted regions. Travel advisory across the organisation has been issued with full precautionary measures," the company said.

It has also formed a special global task force to actively monitor the situation and take necessary actions in consultation with external agencies (International SOS). "HCL is pro-actively invoking all required measures to ensure business continuity and will also be providing full support to clients and employees," the company said. The government has stepped up its efforts to detect and check the infection which has killed over 3,100 people worldwide.

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Last month, Mobile World Congress (MWC), the biggest annual showcase for the telecom and technology industry held in Barcelona, was cancelled in view of the coronavirus outbreak whose epicentre was in China. The virus outbreak, which has seen cases being registered across the world including South Korea, Iran, Italy and Japan, has had a significant impact on supply chains and manufacturing, given China is one of the biggest sources of components for products like electronics.

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