Nestlé Tells Global Staff to Halt International Travel, Curtail Domestic Trips

By Saabira Chaudhuri

LONDON -- Nestlé SA has asked hundreds of thousands of its world-wide employees to temporarily postpone all overseas business travel -- an extreme measure by one of the world's largest multinationals, taken as companies try to navigate the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

Nestlé -- which employs about 291,000 people and sells products in 187 countries -- has asked workers to suspend all international business travel until March 15, according to a spokeswoman.

The maker of Nescafe coffee and Purina pet food is asking staff to curtail domestic travel, too, and to substitute trips with phone calls or video chats where possible. Employees typically travel for conferences, meetings and supplier visits, among other reasons.

"We take our responsibility for our employees and to the communities in which we operate seriously," said the spokeswoman.

If employees need to travel for business-critical reasons, she said, that will require permission from one of Nestlé's most senior executives -- one of the consumer-goods giant's heads of markets or an executive board member.

For weeks, companies have been curtailing or forbidding travel of employees to areas directly affected by the virus, including China and more recently Italy. Many companies have also required workers traveling from those affected areas to quarantine themselves -- working from home or otherwise remotely -- for up to 14 days. That is typically the time during which symptoms of the flulike virus become apparent.

Nestlé's move is one of the first by a major multinational to restrict all of its employees from flying -- anywhere.

Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 26, 2020 13:32 ET (18:32 GMT)

Nestle (PK) (USOTC:NSRGY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024