Nestlé Tells Global Staff to Halt International Travel, Curtail Domestic Trips
February 26 2020 - 2:05PM
Dow Jones News
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.
Switzerland-based 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.
As international companies grapple with falling sales in China
amid widespread store closures and supply-chain headaches as
factories remain idle, they have also had to wrestle with how best
to protect employees. In countries seriously affected by the
outbreaks, many companies have insisted staff stay and work from
home. Limiting travel to and from affected areas has also been one
of the most widespread options so far.
Nestlé said its Italy base, in Milan, is continuing to operate.
The company is encouraging employees to work from home where
possible. Workers living in areas designated high-risk by Italian
authorities have been asked not to come to the office. Nestlé has
10 factories in Italy making chocolate and other products and, so
far, all are still operational.
Nestlé's announcement comes after U.S. federal health
authorities on Tuesday said they expected a wider spread of the
coronavirus in the U.S. and were preparing for a potential
pandemic, calling on businesses, schools and communities to brace
themselves and plan for a potential outbreak. If the virus spreads
more widely, experts say efforts would shift to strategies such as
closing schools, canceling mass gatherings and requiring employees
to work from home.
On Wednesday, Unilever PLC, a Nestlé rival, said it, too, was
restricting employee travel to business-critical trips.
Chevron Corp. asked workers at its Canary Wharf office in London
to work from home Wednesday, as the company awaited results from
coronavirus tests. A worker at the U.S. oil giant's trading
operations had flulike symptoms earlier in the week, prompting a
decision to ask staff at that office to telecommute, according to a
person familiar with the matter. Some 300 employees work at
Chevron's Canary Wharf office.
The company provided coronavirus testing for the employee with
symptoms. Normally, test results are available within 24 hours.
However, the person said, the Chevron employee's results have been
delayed as a result of a rising number of people in London who are
also receiving tests.
Meanwhile, Chevron is "taking precautionary measures to reduce
risk of exposure," a company spokeswoman said.
Benoit Faucon in London contributed to this article.
Write to Saabira Chaudhuri at saabira.chaudhuri@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 26, 2020 13:50 ET (18:50 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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