Google halts on-site job interviews due to coronavirus outbreak

Google has stopped conducting on-site job interviews in the wake of coronavirus outbreak around the world. The company is instead conducting interviews online via Google Hangouts or Bluejeans.

"In light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and to protect our candidates' and interviewers' health and wellbeing, we will be conducting all Google interviews globally virtually via Google Hangout (or BlueJeans for applicable countries) for the foreseeable future," Google is quoted as saying.

Google's move is part of the ongoing efforts to reduce the number of physical interactions in order to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. Already, the likes of Twitter and Microsoft have asked their employees to work from home. Amazon and Facebook have also imposed similar restrictions on on-site interviews.

In India, Paytm shut its Gurgaon offices temporarily after one its employees tested positive for the virus. Tech Mahindra has also imposed restrictions on domestic and international travel and encouraging employees to work from home.

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"We are working towards ensuring our employees are not just aware but also educated on preventive measures that can be taken. We have issued a detailed employee advisory and are undertaking various preventive measures. We have mobilized a panel of doctors on standby across all locations who are educating employees, sharing information, do's and don'ts etc," Harshvendra Soin, Chief People Officer, Tech Mahindra in a release.

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"Restrictions have been imposed on domestic and international travel with immediate effect. We have postponed all internal events which required large gatherings and everyone has been advised to adequately leverage technologies like - Tele Presence and Video Conferencing. In case of COVID-19 symptoms, employees are being asked to avail work from home as well. All our office locations and guest houses are also being stocked with adequate supplies of sanitizers, emergency medicines, food ration etc," he added.

The Coronavirus outbreak has forced many international events to be cancelled. In the technology space, GSMA earlier this year cancelled the annual Mobile World Congress in Spain. Google has also called off the physical event for its annual developer conference I/O 2020 later this year. Smartphone companies such as Realme and Xiaomi also held online events to launch their new phones.