Google tells more than 100,000 employees in North America to work from home

Alphabet Inc.’s Google told its staff in North America not go into their offices unless they have to, becoming one of the latest companies seeking to protect workers from the spreading coronavirus.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based tech giant is “recommending” workers stay home until at least April 10, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg. The company had already sent home its Seattle-area workers, where the virus has had the highest number of cases in the U.S.

“The goal of businesses moving to work-from-home arrangements is to significantly reduce the density of people and lower health risk in offices,” the memo said.

The note also told contract workers, which make up as much as half of the company’s overall workforce, to work from home if they were able. Google also said last week it would keep paying the thousands of hourly workers who do jobs such as serving food, cleaning offices and providing security, through the crisis.