Mar 3, 2020 - Technology

Tech firms ban travel and push remote work amid coronavirus outbreak

Ina Fried

Illustration of a Newton's Cradle, with a virus cell about to hit the balls. — 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.)

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Tech firms ban travel and push remote work amid coronavirus outbreak

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