With the increasing Coronavirus cases all over the world, tech giants have now started to take further steps to ensure safety of its employees, customers and partners. In the latest developments, Google has indefinitely postponed the digital version of its annual Cloud Next conference, Apple has closed all of its retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27, and Facebook has announced that it will be giving $1,000 to every employee of the company.
Two weeks ago, Google cancelled the in-person Cloud Next conference and said that it would hold the digital version of the event. In the latest announcement, Alison Wagonfeld, Chief Marketing Officer, Google Cloud, said that the company will hold the event when the timing is right, and it will share the new date later. Google stresses that its main concern is supporting its customers, partners, and helping communities stay safe, informed, and connected.
‘Google Cloud has decided to postpone Google Cloud Next ‘20: Digital Connect out of concern for the health and safety of our customers, partners, employees and local communities, and based on recent decisions made by the federal and local governments regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19),’ Wagonfeld added.
Apple has also closed all its stores outside of Greater China. So, in order to get services, customers can login to the company’s online store (www.apple.com), or they can download the Apple Store app on the App Store. For service and support, customers can visit support.apple.com. Apart from this, Apple is also donating funds to help people who are suffering from COVID-19 pandemic.
‘Apple’s committed donations to the global COVID-19 response — both to help treat those who are sick and to help lessen the economic and community impacts of the pandemic — today reached $15 million worldwide. We’re also announcing that we are matching our employee donations two-to-one to support COVID-19 response efforts locally, nationally and internationally,’ Tim Cook, Apple CEO, said in a statement.
Facebook has also announced that it will pay $1,000 cash to each of its 45,000 employees. According to The Information (via The Verge), the announcement was made by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in an internal company memo, and the funds will be distributed throughout April. These 45,000 employees will also get an ‘exceeds’ rating for their first six-month review of 2020, which means that employees will have more bonuses to help them during the pandemic.
We all know that tech giants hire contractors to do some of their work. Reportedly, some full-time Facebook employees took over some of the work done by contractors. Facebook is apparently still paying those contractors. The social media giant is also funding coronavirus testing in the Bay Area.
