With the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak
forcing governments to close schools, sporting
events, communal spaces and more, businesses
are taking the situation into their own hands,
encouraging their staff to work from home. With
the virus continuing on its path of destruction
and no clear end in sight, the pandemic could
change the way we work forever.
BIG COMPANIES CHANGING POLICIES
We’re living in truly unprecedented times.
Not only has the World Health Organization
called COVID-19 a worldwide pandemic, but
stock markets are hemorrhaging billions,
countries are closing their borders, and
businesses are beginning to feel the pitch.
With a vaccine at least six months away and
governments imposing new social distancing
measures, we knew it wouldn’t take long for
businesses to introduce their own coronavirus
policies to protect their staff, customers,
and shareholders. The biggest of all is mass
cancelations, with Facebook the first major
player to cancel a high-profile event, telling
the world F8 2020 was scrapped, before
Google followed suit to cancel its upcoming I/O
2020 event - the biggest annual conference
in the giant’s calendar. Apple, too, put the
brakes on its rumored March event, where
it was due to unveil new iPhones, iPads, and
even potentially a Tile-like Bluetooth tracker
device, with insiders telling the media it was
simply too risky for a conference of its scale
to take place. It followed up the news with an
announcement that its WWDC 2020 would
be an online-only affair to protect its staff.