Companies Devise Coronavirus Response Plans
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is your Money Briefing for Monday, March 9th. I'm Charlie Turner for The Wall Street Journal.
How are companies initially reacting to the coronavirus at work?
There could be a lot of empty offices as companies respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
It's just the lack of certainty here. Companies really say that they're struggling to figure out kind of what to do. A number of them are developing plans and really kind of reevaluating them, oftentimes multiple times a day, just to figure out how do we keep workers safe while trying to minimize disruptions to the business.
We'll talk about the plans that companies are making to protect their workers with The Wall Street Journal's Chip Cutter.
As the coronavirus spreads across the U.S., companies have been racing to enact contingency plans in a bid to prevent workers' exposure to the virus. What sort of plans have been put into place? Joining us is The Wall Street Journal's Chip Cutter. Chip, first, what is different about this health crisis with regards to work compared with other viral outbreaks in the past?
Well, I think it's really unprecedented in its scope and certainly in its breadth.
What makes this coronavirus workplace crisis different from past outbreaks?
I think a number of employers are really struggling to figure out how do we get our arms around this just because it keeps changing by the day.
And, you know, compared to other viral outbreaks, this seems a lot bigger. They seem smaller in comparison.
That's correct. And I think certainly companies have dealt with crisis in the past, a number of different events from health issues to terrorist attacks. I think we have around the world, though, companies focused on this one issue right now and how to solve it. What is the biggest challenge about this outbreak that companies have had to deal with? Really, it's just the lack of certainty here. Companies really say that they're struggling to figure out kind of what to do. A number of them are developing plans and really kind of reevaluating them, oftentimes multiple times a day, just to figure out how do we keep workers safe while trying to minimize disruptions to the business. Describe for us what sort of plans companies are instituting.
Yeah.
What major challenges do employers face when planning responses?
So you see companies really kind of doing a number of different things here. Some companies are splitting workers up. So taking a team of workers and saying some people should go to one location and others should go somewhere else. So this is what Bank of America is doing. They're sending some of their team members to Connecticut, keeping others in New York.
What specific operational plans are companies putting in place to protect employees?
You see companies like Goldman Sachs also considering similar measures. You also have companies handing out money so that people can buy supplies to have at home if they need to work from home for an extended period of time. You have companies giving people guidance. For example, Microsoft told workers to stay six feet away from others if you have to go into an open office setting. So a whole range of different solutions, companies really trying to do all they can to keep workers safe. But there's a lot of anxiety around this. Well, describe first which companies are doing what. So let's take New York, for example. Microsoft has now told all of its New York-based employees to work from home to March 25th.
Amazon has also told employees here to work from home for weeks. This follows what both companies have done in the Seattle area, for example.
Which major companies have announced work-from-home or other location strategies?
Facebook has encouraged all of its workers in the San Francisco area this week to stay home all week. They've cut shuttle service and minimized cafeteria service, another way to try to keep people at home. Coinbase, the San Francisco company, has asked workers with compromised immune systems, including those who are at risk because of age or people for whom getting sick would be problematic, to start working from home. So you just see a number of different approaches here. Ralph Lauren, the luxury apparel company in New York, has actually shortened its office hours from 10 to 4 because it wants to allow workers to commute to the office during off-peak times, thinking that might help minimize their risk.
They're also saying workers who want to can work from home.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:05–0:11
2
How are companies initially reacting to the coronavirus at work?
0:11–1:11
3
What makes this coronavirus workplace crisis different from past outbreaks?
1:11–2:03
4
What major challenges do employers face when planning responses?
2:03–2:21
5
What specific operational plans are companies putting in place to protect employees?
2:21–3:06
6
Which major companies have announced work-from-home or other location strategies?
3:06–4:30
7
How are companies addressing remote-work readiness and child-care logistics?
4:30–5:19
Speakers
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