Twitter Inc has announced it will allow employees who are able to work remotely to do so indefinitely in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. This makes Twitter the first tech major to announce such a measure signaling a significant shift in working style amid the pandemic crisis (and possibly even beyond).
Twitter has said its most offices will remain closed at least until September and the employees will have an option to work remotely, according to a BuzzFeed news report. Twitter said it won’t have business travel before September, with a few exceptions, and no in-person corporate events for the remainder of the year.
Twitter’s Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey’s plans have also been halted due to the coronavirus pandemic. He had intended to travel to Africa in mid-2020 for three to six months, while remotely heading Twitter, which is based in San Francisco.
The Guardian has quoted Twitter’s spokesperson as saying that the company was “one of the first companies to go to a work-from-home model” due to Covid-19, but it does not anticipate itself to be one of the first to return to its offices.
Since March 2, Twitter has been strongly urging employees to work from home followed by making work from home mandatory for some beginning March 11. The company has also halted its business travels and in-person events at least until 2021. Twitter has also supported its employees in purchasing stuff required to work from home including desk and desk chairs by increasing employee allowances.
Other tech giants have also moved in with similar policies for their employees amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Google and Facebook have extended their home working plans to 2021. Amazon has expanded its work-from-home plans to at least early October this year.
Twitter is based in San Francisco which has reported a total of 1,974 coronavirus cases out of the 70,000 cases reported from the state of California since March 1.
