The entire world has been impacted immensely due to the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in layoffs, leave without pay and witnessing the largest experiment of work from home in the world. Amid rising concerns for its employees, now the US auto major Ford has asked its 10,000 employees in India, except those in business-critical roles, to work from home, following the footsteps of Volvo and Tata, who have acted in the similar manner due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A Ford India spokesperson said, in recent days, the company has concluded that the issue of coronavirus has taken on a different dimension. The company is continuing to act in real-time to keep its “people safe and help limit the spread of the virus in communities where we live and work”. “Therefore, starting Monday March 16, we have instructed much of our India workforce (over 10,000 people) including Ford India and Global Business Services – except those in business-critical roles that cannot be done away from Ford facilities – to work remotely until further notice,” the spokesperson said.
He further said, “The action will additionally help reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus while maximising the health of our business. All necessary safety measures have been deployed at Ford locations as well as our dealerships to ensure minimum inconvenience to customers.”
In a similar development, Volvo Car India, the wholly-owned arm of Swedish luxury car company Volvo, also announced work from home as a safety measure for its employees due to the rising number of coronavirus infections in India.
Enhanced sanitation measures have been taken to ensure hygiene at office premises. The company had also suspended all domestic and international travel since February, to limit the exposure of our employees to the virus, it added.
Volvo Car India further said it is also working closely with dealers to ensure their facilities are hygienic. “Guidelines to dealers include ensuring cars that visit workshops as well as dealer demo cars are properly cleaned before next use. In addition, all demo cars to mandatorily have hand sanitiser,” it said.
On Sunday, Tata Motors had also announced work from home for its office-based employees at headquarter and regional offices.
Yesterday, Gurugram’s District Magistrate has issued an advisory to all offices located in Gurugram district to allow their employees to work from home till 31st March 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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