Bay Area Tech Firms Push Telecommuting Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — Amid growing concerns about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak Silicon Valley’s tech giants are urging their employees to work at home if they can.

Just days after encouraging its California and Seattle employees to work from home – including those at its Cupertino campus that employs approximately 12,000 - Apple CEO Tim Cook urged employees at most of the company’s global offices to work at home for the week of March 9 to13, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg News.

Cook told employees in the memo to “please feel free to work remotely if your job allows.”

The directive affects employees in regions that have been most impacted by the outbreak. Santa Clara on Monday reported the first confirmed death of a COVID-19 patient. On Saturday the county announced eight new confirmed coronavirus cases.

Google is giving its Bay Area employees – including its approximately 23,000 employees who work at its Mountain View campus – the option of working at home according to 9TO5GOOGLE.

Microsoft was among the first tech companies urging employees in Silicon Valley and Seattle wishing to work from home to do so, Reuters reported.

Silicon Valley hasn’t been impervious to the outbreak. Cisco announced to its workforce in an internal memo obtained by Business Insider that an employee at its Silicon Valley headquarters has a confirmed case of COVID-19.

The employee works out of Building 24 on the company’s sprawling campus, which spills over from San Jose into Milpitas.

Cisco has shuttered Building 24 and is allowing employees to work at home, the report said.

“While our employee is not displaying any symptoms, your safety, and that of our customers and partners, is our priority,” Cisco's chief people officer Fran Katsoudas told employees.

Cisco is offering a free 30-day license for WebEx, its video-conferencing tool.

Silicon Valley isn’t monolithic in its views about the coronavirus.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted “The coronavirus panic is dumb.”

Tesla did not respond to an email from MarketWatch asking whether it’s allowing any of its employees the option to telecommute.