Indeed shuts offices in three cities over coronavirus fears
Online job recruitment site Indeed has told more than 1,000 workers in Dublin, Sydney, and Singapore on Monday to work from home because of concerns that an employee’s relatives may have been exposed to the coronavirus.
The company made the decision to close three offices, despite the fact that no Indeed employees have tested positive for the illness, which has caused at least 800 deaths worldwide. The closures came after Indeed management became aware that an employee in its Singapore office “may have been exposed to coronavirus” after relatives visited a facility caring for patients affected by the outbreak, a company spokesperson told Fortune.
“While there are no confirmed cases of infection, out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of our employees, we have asked all employees in Singapore, along with anyone who has recently visited our Singapore offices, to work from home until February 17th,” a spokesperson told Fortune.
As an additional precaution, employees in Ireland—its European headquarters—and Australia were told to work from home this week, since some employees who recently visited Singapore also traveled to the Dublin and Sydney offices, the spokesperson said.
There haven’t been any cases of the coronavirus reported in Ireland, however more than 15 cases of the deadly virus have been reported in Australia since last month.
While the three Indeed offices will be dark this week, the recruitment service said that its “business continues uninterrupted across the globe.”
The decision to ask thousands of employees to work from home comes as companies around the world are taking precautions to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
In Wuhan, China, a city of 11 million people and the epicenter of the virus, travel has come to a standstill with many major airlines canceling flights.
Last week, Macau, the world’s gambling capital, announced it would shut down 41 casinos for at least 15 days. The closures account for 50% of Macau’s GDP.