Lyft is the latest tech company to send employees home over coronavirus
Ridesharing company Lyft has advised its San Francisco employees to go home after learning one staff member was in contact with someone exposed to coronavirus, or COVID-19. The team member has not exhibited any symptoms and is in touch with medical professionals, Lyft spokesperson Alexandra LaManna told TechCrunch.
“We are basing every step of our response process on CDC guidance, and out of an abundance of caution are encouraging our San Francisco headquarters employees to work from home for the remainder of this week,” Lyft shared in a statement.
LaManna also said that Lyft HQ will be having an “enhanced cleaning process overnight.”
The response is another in a slew of tech companies sending employees home to limit the chance of coronavirus spreading among staff. Earlier this week, Twitter encouraged all staff members to work from home. Amazon, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and Google also have advised some staff to work remotely based on fears of exposure.
The ripple effect of COVID-19 on tech doesn’t stop at employees. A number of high-profile conferences have been canceled, including Facebook’s F8 conference and Google’s physical part of Cloud Next. SXSW and Y Combinator Demo Day have not yet disclosed whether or not their independent conferences, which garner thousands of people, will stay on.
Coronavirus has also started to impact the market, with Microsoft citing the outbreak as the reason for having supply-chain issues and impact earnings.
Source: TechCrunch
