Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft urge workers to stay homeExBulletin

Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft are asking employees in the Seattle area to work from home as the business community tries to reduce the risk of the spread of the coronavirus epidemic.

Facebook said an entrepreneur in one of its Seattle offices had been diagnosed with the virus. The last employee was in the office on February 21 and Facebook closed the office until March 9. The company encourages all Seattle employees to work from home until the end of the month.

"We have warned our employees and are following the advice of public health officials to prioritize everyone's health and safety," said a Facebook spokesperson.

An Amazon employee at its Seattle headquarters has also contracted the virus, the company said.

"We recommend that Seattle / Bellevue employees who can work from home do so until the end of the month," said a spokesperson for Amazon.

Google and Microsoft Also recommend that Seattle area employees work from home if possible.

American companies, including IBM, JPMorgan Chase and Apple, are limiting travel and canceling major events or turning them into virtual gatherings as they attempt to limit the potential exposure of their employees to the virus.

Cancellations are a big blow to cities and local sellers and threaten to further tighten the travel industry. The stocks of airlines, hotels and cruise lines have all fallen sharply in recent weeks.

Here are the latest commercial impacts:

Adobe has canceled its annual summit in Las Vegas, saying it would become a "Online only" experience.

Amazon restricts all non-essential employee travel, including to the United States. Employees can work from home if they wish. He encourages Seattle employees to work from home. An employee at the company's head office in Seattle and two employees in Milan contracted the virus.

Apple has limited employee travel to China, Italy and South Korea, says Bloomberg News.

Facebook canceled its biggest event of the year, its F8 Developer Conference set for May. He said he would rather offer "locally hosted events, videos and live content". He also canceled his Global Marketing Summit in San Francisco. He recommends that Seattle employees work from home after a diagnosis in a Seattle office has been diagnosed with the virus.

Google has canceled its flagship developer conference, I / O, scheduled for May. He also canceled his Global News Initiative summit and said he would turn his Cloud Next conference into a digital event. He interrupted all international travel. An employee from his Zurich office tested positive for the virus. He also encourages workers in Washington State to work from home.

IBM says his Think 2020 conference, slated for San Francisco in May, would be organized as a "global event, digital first". It has suspended domestic travel for internal meetings and participation in events with more than 1,000 participants. It also limits international travel to "critical situations for businesses when virtual methods are insufficient".

The International Monetary Fund and world Bank said their spring meetings would be held virtually rather than in person in Washington.

JPMorgan Chase curbed non-essential employee travel, says Bloomberg News.

Microsoft canceled its MVP summit in the suburbs of Seattle and said it would turn the networking event into an online-only gathering. He recommends that Seattle employees work from home and advises all workers to avoid unnecessary travel to areas affected by the virus.

REI, outdoor equipment retailers, have closed three campuses in the Seattle area for cleaning up after employees reported possible exposure to the coronavirus, local media reporting.

Salesforce not allowed international travel and restricted domestic travel "almost all the most critical", and it makes customer events digital rather than in person.

Shoptalk, a major retail conference, has been postponed to September in Las Vegas. The event, which attracts thousands of participants each year, was scheduled to start on March 22. Organizers said the change was due to corporate travel restrictions as well as public health boards.

Square, the San Francisco-based payment company, "strongly" encourages employees to work from home. It has also ended non-essential business trips to the United States and abroad, and it "discourages face-to-face participation in internal and external conferences and business events," according to a spokesman.

Twitter encourage all employees to Work at home if they can. Workers in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea have to work from home. He also suspended "all business trips and non-critical events".

The Washington Post canceled non-essential business travel until the end of March.