09 Mar The virus is changing Silicon Valley
Big tech corporations in Silicon Valley are taking the coronavirus seriously. Because they can, and because they cannot afford not to. But will it be enough?
The known cases of coronavirus in the Bay Area (Silicon Valley) are right now 74. The numbers are expected to rise rapidly when test equipment will be more widely available this week, including private clinics.
The tech industry is taking the threat from the virus seriously. Big tech employers, like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin are asking the employees to work from home, and many companies are closed for external visits. Big conferences and events are canceled, and travel bans are a must at all responsible companies.
Why? Because they are afraid of the coronavirus? Yes sure, but there are two other important reasons.
The first one is legal. Imagine the lawsuit after a big tech corporation sent an employer to a conference, aware of the risk, and she or he got infected and died. The compensation would most likely be enough for generations to come.
The second reason is that they can. Most people working for big tech corporations can do their jobs from home. Things that seemed impossible when we were only threatened by a changing climate, now appears to be possible. Instead of traveling, companies are having digital conferences and meetings. Instead of taking the car to work, they work at home.
Working at home is, however, not a possibility for cashiers, cooks, waiters, janitors, cabbies, ride-hail drivers, health aides, daycare, and a lot of other professions. They all need to be physically present, and many of them do not have paid sick leave or a minimal number of sick days.
And if that is not enough, around 8000 people in San Francisco alone are estimated to be homeless, sleeping on the street without access to healthcare.
In order to stop the virus, we must start realizing that we are all part of the same society.