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Working From Home, Temperature Checks and Quarantines: How Chinese Companies Are Trying to be Back to Work

People in China are gradually returning to work after the government announced multiple extensions to the Spring Festival to curb the spread of coronavirus. However, the country is still far from working at levels it used to before the epidemic.

Work From Home Using Video Conferencing

Most offices are being run from home using online video chat and internet-based communication channels. Some of the top business communication services took a hit earlier this week and had high-traffic overall.

Authorities have also sent notices on what businesses should be doing as the world’s second-largest economy is getting back to work. Millions of workers are now using the latest government-issued guidelines on how they can keep working while the epidemic recedes.

Patchwork In-Process

Routine Temperature Checks

Most locations are asking companies to do routine temperature checks of people that move into their offices or related buildings. Others, including one district in Shenzhen, instructed officers in the vicinity with migrant workers that travel to and from Wuhan or other Hubei regions to set up quarantine areas.

The public health crisis, which has now been declared an international threat, is currently being “patched up” by the Chinese authorities.

The coronavirus has killed more than 900 people and infected at least 40,000, mostly in mainland China. The majority of the cases are in the central Chinese province of Hubei, where life remains mostly at a standstill.

Elsewhere in China, though, some big companies are trying to return to work — albeit with serious precautions. Others remain shut down.

Huawei Reopened Its Headquarter in Shenzhen

Huawei, the country’s top smartphone maker, on Monday reopened its Shenzhen headquarters where it employs about 40,000 people, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person said its decision was in line with local guidelines that authorized businesses to reopen.

But Huawei employees returned to a dramatically different environment than the one they left in January. When they clock in each morning, workers must now provide details about their body temperature and whereabouts for the last two weeks, the person said. There will also be temperature checks at office buildings and parking lots, while face masks and hand sanitizers are being dispensed all over campus.

Tencent and Alibaba Workers Stay Home

Tencent, which is also based in Shenzhen, said its staff in mainland China were working from home on Monday, and will continue to do so for at least the next two weeks. In Hong Kong, where there are at least 38 confirmed cases, the company’s office is tentatively set to reopen next week.

“The health and safety of our employees are of the utmost importance to us,” a company spokesperson told CNN Business. “Accordingly, Tencent will continue to monitor the situation closely and will revise these arrangements as necessary.”

Many others took a similar approach. Microsoft’s team in mainland China will stay home for at least another week while its Hong Kong office continues to operate as usual, a spokesperson said.

Chinese ride-hailing provider Didi and Audi’s China team are also extending their remote working practices through Friday. And e-commerce giant Alibaba has asked employees to work from home for another week, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Drone-maker DJI is asking employees to work from home until further notice, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Other companies are allowing their workers to return to the office but under strict conditions.

Baidu, China’s top search engine provider, said that it was “gradually” reopening its offices on Monday. But employees who come in “must meet quarantine conditions, and they can only return to work on the campus after approval,” the company said in an internal memo seen by CNN Business.

Dane Anderson, vice president and regional manager of Asia Pacific at Forrester Research, said the confusion among companies about how to manage the outbreak was predictable, given a lack of preparation. ”

Most organizations focus their business continuity plans on losses, such as the loss of facilities, technology or people, but not on impact-based scenarios such as the current novel coronavirus,” he told CNN Business. “Unfortunately, most organizations will be learning on the go, which will lead to more confusion along the way.”

To Read More: Will The Coronavirus Affect China’s Economy? Researchers Say “No”

Toyota and GM Factories Remain Shut

Automakers have also been wrestling with when to allow employees to work again. Toyota, for example, had been weighing whether to reopen its China plants Monday, but recently extended those closures another week.

Volkswagen, which said last week that it expected to resume some vehicle production Monday, did not respond to a request for comment.

General Motors said Monday it would resume production in China from February 15, staggering the restart over a two-week period based on factors such as employee safety, supply chain readiness and product inventory needs.

The Chinese government may soon provide some more clarity for businesses. China’s State Council said Monday that it plans to hold a press conference Tuesday to discuss how China is helping companies resume production.

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