Remote working gets major boost amid coronavirus outbreak

Tech companies including Google, Coinbase, Twitter and Microsoft are now considering virtual recruitment, online-only events and remote work for its employees.

The novel coronavirus epidemic is not only impacting the lives of people but also disrupting businesses around the world. Tech companies including Google, Twitter and Microsoft are now considering virtual recruitment, online-only events and remote work for its employees.

Looking to protect the health and safety of its workforce, Twitter, on Monday, announced that it is strongly encouraging all employees globally to work from home while making it mandatory for employees based in Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea offices where the government restrictions are already in place.

"We are working to make sure internal meetings, all hands, and other important tasks are optimized for remote participation. We recognize that working from home is not ideal for some job functions. For those employees who prefer or need to come into the offices, they will remain open for business," Twitter said in a blog post.

Similarly, Microsoft China employees have also opted to work remotely during this global health emergency. Sharing her experience of working remotely, Lily Zheng, Director, Microsoft China, said "As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to affect millions of people here in China, we have experienced a huge spike in remote work. It's as if every school, hospital, and business in China is now a distributed organization – if only temporarily. From virus outbreaks like COVID-19 to unexpected weather emergencies, there are many reasons that working remotely could become suddenly necessary."

Following the suit, crypto firm Coinbase has asked some of its employees to start working from home this week. In a tweet, Brian Armstrong, Coinbase co-founder and CEO said that working from home is not a complete solution, but it may help slow the growth of infections.

An update on COVID-19. We're asking some employees to start working from home this week.https://t.co/RJo1KfcpCAWorking from home is not a complete solution, but it may help slow the growth of infections. https://t.co/yy3gAwFNsT

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) March 2, 2020

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020. According to the latest estimates by the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 89,527 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 3,056 deaths reported globally in 67 countries.