Twitter tells employees to work from home

Move comes as fear grows over coronavirus

Amid growing fears about the spread of coronavirus around the Bay Area, Twitter has told its employees that they should work from home, if at all possible.

Twitter said in a company blog post that employees should avoid coming into its San Francisco headquarters, and other offices around the world, in order cut down on the risk of exposure to the coronavirus that has afflicted almost 100 persons in the United States, and caused six deaths in Washington state.

In addition to Twitter, payments-processing technology company Square also said it is encouraging employees to work from home. Both companies are headed up by Chief Executive Jack Dorsey, and are believed to be among the first notable companies in the region to encourage employees to work from home during the coronavirus outbreak.

“We are strongly encouraging all employees globally to work from home if they’re able,” Twitter said. “We are working to make sure internal meetings, all hands, and other important tasks are optimized for remote participation.”

About 5,000 Twitter employees, and approximately 4,000 Square employees will be covered by the company’s work-at-home plans.

Twitter said its offices in the Bay Area would remain open as usual due the necessity of some job functions. The company said it was “increasing deep cleaning and sanitizing in all spaces” in its offices.

The company said working from home is now mandatory for its employees in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea, due to government restrictions in those locations.