Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Tech companies are taking fresh action in hopes of preventing employees from getting exposed to the novel coronavirus.
The big picture: It's not clear what course the virus will take, but companies are trying to do what they can to keep running their businesses while minimizing risk for employees.
- Salesforce is among the companies banning all international travel and most domestic travel.
- Twitter is encouraging employees to work from home if they can and has pulled out of SXSW in Austin, Texas.
- Facebook is limiting social visitors to its offices, and is following Twitter in scrapping plans to attend SXSW.
The big picture: A number of tech companies are converting in-person events to digital ones, including Google, with its Cloud Next conference; Adobe, with Adobe Summit; and Microsoft, with its MVP Summit.
- The moves come on top of a spate of earlier industry conference cancellations, including Game Developers Conference, F8 and Mobile World Congress, along with a number of smaller events.
The other side: SXSW organizers are moving forward with the event, although they said they are meeting with health officials daily. (More than 28,000 people have signed a petition urging organizers to cancel the event.)